ENG W vs IND W: India saves historic Bristol Test, skipper Mithali Raj praises youngsters


ENG W vs IND W: India saves historic Bristol Test, skipper Mithali Raj praises youngsters

Mithali Raj and Team India

The Indian women’s cricket team pulled off a brilliant Test draw against England at the County Ground in Bristol. This helped the Mithali Raj-led side continue their 26-year-old unbeaten record in this format in the English conditions.

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The Indian eves took the field with several debutants including the likes of Sneh Rana, Shafali Verama, Deepti Sharma and Taniya Bhatia. Interestingly, all of them stood up and contributed significantly to their side’s performance against England.

After bundling out for a below-par total of 231, the Indian team was asked to follow on by the Heather Knight-led side. India were struggling in the second innings as well before Sneh Rana (80*) got good support from tailender Shikha Pandey (18) and wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia (44*), and saved the one-off Test match. 

Meanwhile, skipper Mithali Raj looked quite impressed with the performance of her side’s debutants. She mentioned that the youngsters stood up when it was required. 

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“I think it’s amazing. After the first-innings collapse and being put into follow-on, Sneh Rana stood up, Deepti Sharma played a very important and crucial role, and Sneh was supported by the other players like Taniya and Shikha. The debutants stood up when it was required,” Mithali said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

‘Bristol Test will go down as one of the most important matches’

Mithali Raj
Mithali Raj

The 38-year-old highlighted that this game will go down as one of the most important because they were playing a Test match after seven long years.

“When we have a positive environment in the dressing room and players without much experience in red ball, they don’t come in with a lot of baggage. This Test match will definitely go down as one of the most important because we’re coming back and playing the red-ball [format] after a seven-year gap.

“We saw how they came back from the situation we were in at tea. I’m sure we’re going to build on this,” she added.

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India and England will now face each other in the limited-overs series which includes three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and as many Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).

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