10 January,2024 07:10 AM IST | Mumbai | G Krishnan
Head coach Amol Muzumdar
They say that when it rains, it pours. Otherwise, it is totally dry. That's the situation with the Indian women's cricket team right now. In the last 36 days, the Indian women's team led by Harmanpreet Kaur went through a gruelling period of 11 matches across all three formats against the top two countries in the world, England and Australia.
Convert them into 16 match days - India beat England in three days in the one-off Test, the three T20Is each against England and Australia, the three ODIs and the four-day Test against Australia - and that is seriously aplenty. However, Kaur and Co don't know when their next international fixture is, before the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September-October this year.
There is quite a bit of domestic cricket for the Indian women, though. The senior women's one-day trophy, currently in progress, runs till January 26. This is followed by the inter-zonal one-day trophy from January 30 to February 9 in Vadodara and then the Women's Premier League, most likely from February 17, though the dates and venue have not been finalised.
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Head coach Amol Muzumdar will be following the players in these tournaments to get an idea of the talent available in the country outside of those selected for the twin series that concluded on Tuesday with India winning the two Tests while winning only one T20I each against England and Australia. They conceded both series by identical margins 1-2 and were trounced 0-3 by Australia in the ODIs.
Muzumdar, though disappointed at the results in the white-ball formats, said after the match on Tuesday night that the Indian dressing room is a "happy dressing room at the moment". Muzumdar said: "I know we have not got the results we wanted in this series. The girls should be proud of what they have done. Every single member's effort is appreciated. They are in a happy space. That is how it should be and that is how I intend it to be till the World Cup."
Outside the 21 players selected for the recent international matches, Muzumdar said there is definitely talent in the country. "The selectors made the call that these are the best for all three formats. We stick by it. There will be talent around the country. They play the domestic season, will play the inter-zonals and the WPL. There is a long season ahead. Going forward, there will be a few who will be coming in. We will be looking at the broader canvas."
The former Mumbai Ranji Trophy captain and coach hoped that the Indian cricket board will structure some international fixtures before the T20 World Cup. "If you look back at the season, this was an ideal season where you have the two Tests, the ODIs and the T20Is. A similar pattern could be followed, but it depends on what the board thinks. Till WPL there is clarity. Beyond that, we need to structure it."
