Harmanpreet Kaur is jogtrotting towards the “winners” pop-up banner near the Indian dugout at the DY Patil Stadium. The trophy of the one-off women’s Test between India and England in hand, she aims straight for the international debutant in her side waiting behind the board and hands it over to her.
Captains do it all the time, don’t they? (Many of them, if not all.) But what might seem like a routine, self-effacing gesture in most post-match celebrations is anything but in this case.
The recipient, Shubha Satheesh, flanked by the other two Test debutants in the game, Jemimah Rodrigues and Renuka Singh, had gone from scoring a Test 50 on debut on Day 1 of the match to being sidelined from the remainder of the fixture with a dislocated finger early on Day 2 to lifting the trophy with Rodrigues and Singh on Day 3.
That trajectory alone qualifies for one of the wildest swings of individual fortunes to warrant the honour of holding the silverware aloft, but against the backdrop of the rarity that is a home Test match – or Test cricket at large – for the Indian women’s cricket team, the trophy lift, and Harmanpreet’s gesture, on Saturday at once transcended the realms of the routine and optics.
It was India Women’s first Test on home soil in over nine years, one that will now take pride of place in the annals as the Test victory by the highest margin ever – a staggering 347 runs – in the women’s game. It’s a feat that will now form one of a pair of bookends of the Test careers of Satheesh, Rodrigues, Singh, no matter how frequent or sparse the opportunities might be for them, and India, hereon to play the format, at home and away.
It’s a feat that will be the cornerstone of Harmanpreet’s Test captaincy career - this was her debut as India Women Test captain, but it was also a sombre reminder that in the 15th year of her 289-match journey as an Indian cricketer, she’s had the chance to play only four Tests.
It’s a feat that will also be remembered as much for the individuality Satheesh, Singh, Rodrigues, Harmanpreet or Player of the Match Deepti Sharma and several other members of India’s XI, and even their 12th woman Harleen Deol, showcased through a contest that lasted only two days and a session as it will be for the many small wins the hosts clinically amassed as a team – across batting, bowling and fielding – in that time.
Most of all, though, it’s a feat that will be remembered for the fun, skill, spunk, pluck (and oodles of stump-mic chatter) India brought to a relatively unknown proposition that is a Test in the women’s cricket market in India - on screens and in the stadium alike. This, notably, in a year when the launch of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in March took the women’s game in the 20-over format by storm globally.
One can argue that a count of less than 900,000 cumulative views on the host broadcaster’s digital streaming platform across the three days of the Test doesn’t offer much to write home about. Nor do the 500-odd spectators that showed up at the near-48,000-seater stadium in Navi Mumbai in each of the first two days, or the additional few scores of them on the third and final day.
Even the ancillary industry – including, but not limited to, replica-jersey sellers, food vendors, face-paint artists or flag sellers – that sprung, and thrived on, on almost all match days at the DY Patil Stadium last December when it hosted a heavily attended India vs Australia women’s T20I series or the 11 games it staged during the WPL in March, had little to cheer during the Test. The two-and-a-half days brought them little dividends despite entry for all match days having been free.
The lukewarm reception notwithstanding, India flexed every fibre of their muscle in Test whites to send out a message in the most unambiguous terms: what’s stopping the powers that be from allotting them more Test matches on their Future Tours Programme? And, more pressingly, that playing one at home needn’t warrant a decade-long wait. If success is where talent meets opportunity, India’s performance spoke volumes as to why their last appearance in the format, in Australia in 2021, should have had a follow-up sooner than December 2023, even amidst an ever-expanding white-ball calendar.
Across just four sessions spanning the first two days of the match, India, riding brisk 60-plus knocks from Satheesh, Rodrigues, Deepti and Yastika Bhatia romped to a total of 428, the second-highest first-day tally in a women’s Tests ever. On Day 2, Deepti’s phenomenal 5 for 7 in just 5.3 overs, the second-best figures in an innings in women’s Tests since now-chief selector Neetu David’s 8 for 53 in 1995, triggered a collapse that had England slump from 108 for 3 to 136 all-out. A 2 for 25 from Sneh Rana, memorably “the find of the England tour” when the two teams last met in the longest format, in June 2021, only compounded the visitors’ woes during that spiral.
Deciding against following-on, India’s overnight score in their second dig finished on a creditable 186 for 6, their lead having ballooned to 478. Steering the proceedings at the time was skipper Harmanpreet and pace bowler Pooja Vastrakar, who would go on to remain unbeaten in both innings. Little had come by way of official announcement at the close of play of the second day of the match if India had declared, leaving speculations abuzz about Harmanpreet potentially attempting reaching what would have been a hard-earned, well-deserved maiden Test 50 after a bizarre bat-gets-stuck-in-the-turf incident of her own doing denied her the milestone by just one run in the first innings.
Given how rare women’s Tests are, many fans and pundits, on social media and the official broadcast, would go on to describe Harmanpreet’s decision to sacrifice the personal milestone as “selfless” when she kick-started the proceedings the following morning with declaration. When asked about the move at the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet told former India captain and broadcaster Anjum Chopra: “The first 40 minutes were very crucial and, as a team, we sat and decided we will put England in and, in the first 40 minutes, if we are able to get 3-4 wickets in the first half of the game, that can help us win the game.”
“That was the only reason,” explained Harmanpreet, “I know I will get more opportunities to score half-centuries and centuries in the future, but winning the game was very important for the team.”
Her decision, as much her attacking field settings and astute bowling changes throughout the game, was vindicated as the medium-pace duo of Singh and Vastrakar ran through the England top four. The first change in the side and standout bowler on the final day, Vastrakar accounted for opener Sophia Dunkley, captain Heather Knight and England’s MVP of the side on the tour, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, in a blistering spell that even had her on a hat-trick.
Thereafter, Deepti took matters in her own hands (again), picking up 4 for 32, and took over the record for the best figures in a Test by an Indian woman from Harmanpreet, who had bagged 9 for 85 in Mysuru against South Africa in 2014, India’s last Test outing before the one at the DY Patil Stadium. Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad added the finishing touches, scalping two, with the final wicket of the match – of Lauren Bell – coming off her bowling courtesy a sharp catch by Rodrigues, a sprightly presence at short leg through the best part of the game.
Fitting, it was, that the winning moment involved one of the debutants, no less an experienced player in white-ball cricket with over 100 international caps. All that form and fervor the likes of Rodrigues gained through this rare Test-playing and – winning – experience will come in handy in four days’ time, when they take on Australia at the Wankhede Stadium. What the road ahead in the long-term might look like for the format, though, is anybody’s guess. But if actions fall short, and words could make up for them, here’s Harmanpreet, with a wish for the future:
“We didn’t get that many opportunities in the Test format when we were playing cricket, but hopefully, the new generation will get many more games, especially if you talk about Tests, because we have quite a busy schedule in T20Is and ODIs, but Test cricket is actually something that gives you a lot of patience and you can improve your skills. If we get more Tests, that will definitely help us as players.”
Good luck scoring that maiden Test 50 and 100, Harmanpreet.
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