On the occasion of International Women’s day, BCCI has announced that the Indian women’s team will be playing a test match against England in 2021. The further details of this one-off match are going to be announced later as the Indian team returns to the Test arena after six years.
India last played a test match way back in 2014 under the captaincy of Mithali Raj. She is likely to captain the team this time around. The last test matches played by India in 2014 were against South Africa, West Indies, and England. India boasts a good record against England as they have won twice and lost once in 13 encounters.
On the occasion of #InternationalWomensDay, I’m pleased to announce that #TeamIndia @BCCIWomen will play a one-off Test match against @ECB_cricket later this year. The women in blue will be donning the whites again 🙏🏻 🇮🇳
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) March 8, 2021
The resumption of test cricket for the Indian team will be a big boost since the truer format of the game has been heavily neglected by BCCI over the years. England and Australia continue to play Ashes, but the length of that tournament has been smaller than the series between their male counterparts.
The pandemic has deprived the Indian team of international cricket in the last 12 months. They finally returned to action against South Africa on Sunday. The return to international cricket was not a happy one as they lost the first ODI of the series against SA in Lucknow. The two teams are set to play five ODI and three T-20 games in the coming weeks.
Apart from this series, BCCI is also set to resume domestic cricket for women in March. The senior 50 overs tournament is set to begin on March 11 across six cities. Since the IPL is going to start in April, BCCI is also likely to organize the Women’s T-20 Challenge like the previous few seasons. BCCI has been slow in terms of bringing international cricket for the Indian team after the pandemic, but the resumption of test cricket is a big step in the right direction.