India focus on managing workloads ahead of Australia challenge
India carry the momentum of a record Test win over England into their one-off contest against Australia at Wankhede.
Facing off against the England side at the DY Patil stadium, the hosts won by a whopping 347 runs. A clinical display from their bowlers and batters formed the backbone of this spectacular win.
While India women have made sporadic appearances at the Test level in recent years, the four-day fixture against Australia in less than a week after the England encounter will be a rare event for the side.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the one-off Test against Australia, India captain Harmanpreet looked at balancing the workloads and fitness as an important task for her team.
“When you are playing back-to-back Test games, the most important thing for you is recovery," the skipper said.
"How good are you feeling, how fresh are you feeling, because for three days you’ve done back-to-back bowling and batting. If I talk about Deepti [Sharma], and Pooja [Vastrakar], these players didn’t get any rest [during the England Test].
“We tried to take care of their loads, to train them as per what’s necessary for their game. And for those who didn’t have a heavy workload, we tried to push them in the nets.
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"To make them feel more confident. And we talked quite a bit about it. The more we feel fresh, feel okay mentally and physically, it would be better for us.
“An important thing for us right now is excitement. Because we hardly get Test games. And that excitement is helping in our recovery.”
Harmanpreet was satisfied with her side’s preparations ahead of the Test.
“Our approach for this game would be the same as our last match: to go for the win,” Harmanpreet said.
“To continue that approach, if you’re batting, it doesn’t mean that you’re just staying there. At the same time, you’ve to get those crucial runs for the team as well. Once you start attacking the bowler in a Test, and if your defence is solid, you can play a good mind game with them.”
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The all-rounder revealed that the team was banking on tactical preparation.
“After a discussion with our coach, we focussed on the last inning we played and discussed what is the best thing that we can do. That’s what yesterday’s session was about. Today’s session was more about how we’d start the game.
“Now, we’re preparing as per match situations, and how you can give your best for the team in those situations.”
Harmanpreet added that despite the absence of Meg Lanning, who recently retired from the game, India weren’t taking the Australia challenge lightly.
“They have quite a balanced side. Everyone in their team is quite experienced in all the formats. We can’t take them lightly [in Lanning’s absence]. They have quite a balanced side, they have good batters, good spinners, and fielding as we know is among the best right now.
“Australia are a side with many all-rounders, and a number of them perform with both bat and ball. They’re always contributing. They aren’t dependant on one person to contribute [towards a win].”
The one-off Test between India and Australia starts on Thursday in Mumbai.