Ask any player, they all want to play Test matches, says India skipper Mithali Raj

By ANI

BRISTOL: India women’s cricket team skipper Mithali Raj on Tuesday said that she does not want to burden the youngsters in the squad with expectations and she just wants the entire squad to enjoy the occasion.

India and England women will lock horns in a one-off Test beginning June 16 at Bristol6. After that, both sides will square off in three ODIs and three T20Is.

“We don’t want to burden young players with expectations. We just want them to play their game and enjoy it,” said Mithali while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.

When asked about her view on playing multi-format series against England, Mithali said: “This Test match and the pink-ball Test is the beginning of multi-format tours. Ask any player, they all want to play Test matches. We hope to see all the bi-laterals played with all three formats and hopefully it one day leads to a Women’s Test Championship.”

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Mithali also said that the team has not decided the playing XI yet and the final decision will be taken on the morning of the match.

“We haven’t made any decision regarding the playing XI. We haven’t made decision regarding Shafali Verma, we will have a session and pick the XI tomorrow,” said Mithali.

“It’s been seven years since the last Test and most of the players played white-ball cricket predominantly in those years. We have tried to get as much as practice with the red ball in the last few days,” she added.

Indian team is touring England for the first time after the 2017 50-over World Cup final. In that match, the Mithali-led side had to face a defeat at the hands of England.

“We don’t want to look back. Most of them were part of 2017 squad, so it was a good experience for them. But for us, we have a Test match to play tomorrow. It’s good that we get to play all three formats in the series,” said Mithali.

The Indian women’s side is on a cusp of a record, if the team defeats England then they will achieve the world record for achieving most successive Test victories (four) in women’s cricket.

“You can’t really predict the result of a Test match the moment you get on the ground. It’s a four-day game. We will see it as it goes, record hasn’t crossed our minds,” said Mithali.