Australia represent different challenge for hosts who are buzzing after drubbing England
MUMBAI: There's plenty of history associated with the one-off women's Test between India and Australia beginning at the Wankhede Stadium here from Thursday.
This is the first women's Test that Australia are playing in India in 40 years. The last time was in February 1984. It has been the only women's Test that the Wankhede has hosted in its rich history.
During that series, Shantha Rangaswamy led India in four Tests of three days each with all the games ending in draws. Notably, none of the players from either of the current sides were even born then.
Having dismantled England by a record 347-run margin on a turner at the DY Patil Stadium last week, the India team will look to ensnare Australia in a similar spin trap in their endeavour to record a maiden Test win against the undisputed rulers of the women's game.
India would also look to draw inspiration from the last Test against Australia-a drawn Test played with the pink ball in Carrara, Gold Coast-on the back of Smriti Mandhana's sparkling 127 in the first innings.
It is to be seen, though, if the pitch, which sported a rich, green look on Wednesday, will favour the spinners in the same away as the wicket at the DY Patil Stadium.
On the eve of the match, Indian women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur told reporters that her side wanted to maintain the same level of intensity that they showed against England.
"We have the same sort of excitement that we had for the England Test. We want to carry the same energy and are really looking forward to playing this match. As we all know, Australia is such a good team and everyone wants to beat them," Harman said.
It is easier said than done. The biggest challenge for the Indian women is recovering its breath in time for a second Test in two weeks. Managing workloads of the players, especially the bowlers, becomes important in such a scenario.
"When you play back-to-back Tests, the crucial thing is your recovery and how fresh you are feeling. We have tried to take care of the work- load of players like Deepti (Sharma) and Pooja (Vastrakar), who batted and bowled a lot in the last Test and didn't get any rest. We wanted them to train just enough to feel ready for this next game.
"On the other hand, we pushed those players in the nets whose workload wasn't that high," Harman explained.
It was the sheer "excitement" of playing back-backback Tests-for the first time in these players' careers-that is fuelling the Indian women team's energy levels, the captain said. "We've spoken the most about the fact that it'll be best for us to feel fresh mentally and physically. If there was a gap of 10-12 days, one could take two-three days off. We were lucky we had the fourth day off (in the England Test) and then one more day off.
"In this period, we have tried our best to recover. The most important thing now is the excitement we have. Since we hardly get to play Test matches, this is really helping us recover," said Harman.
Australia will have to be on guard against classy off-spinning allrounder Deepti, who stunned England with an incredible match haul of nine for 39 while bowling just 81 balls in that Test.
However, like in the case of the men's team, India aren't just about spin anymore at home. In Renuka Singh Thakur and Vastrakar, who sizzled with a three-wicket burst in England's second innings, the hosts have seamers who can make early inroads with deadly inswingers.
