AS AN inspiration before the one-off Test against Australia at the renovated WACA ground in Perth, the Indian women’s team had revisited their famous win over the same rivals in December 2023. It was their first Test victory over Australia. The intended spark of inspiration only worked in patches as the Australian women hammered India by ten wickets to win the pink-ball Test. The loss has not come as a shocker for coach Amol Muzumdar but the women’s failure to conjure white-ball magic in white clothing will keep him perplexed. Test cricket has still remained a difficult hurdle to cross for Indian women.

 

It is one box that they must tick with full might if India are to emerge as a cricketing powerhouse in women’s domain. The only bright spark from the Perth defeat is India’s grit that made Australia bat again although for a brief target of 24. The fight shown by Pratika Rawal when chips were totally down in the second innings should be the highlight for Muzumdar when he addresses the team in a threadbare analysis. Of course, India did show guts in other departments but there was simply no nerve in the batters for the longest format. The patience and temperament needed for Test cricket was sorely missing in this batting line-up and it should be a cause of worry for the coach whose batting exploits in India’s domestic cricket have become legendary. After the white-ball world triumph, Harmanpreet Kaur’s team was supposed to make a statement in Test cricket. They were going into the day/night game on the back of three Test victories. Albeit all the wins had come on the home soil. And it turned out to be the biggest factor behind India’s defeat at Perth. From the comforts of home to the demanding pitch at the famous WACA, Indian women found the massive difference between standards of the game.

 

The game they had revisited before the match was also played on home soil. And that is where the inspiration part ended. Post-mortem of a one-off Test is usually a mild affair in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). A team can have a bad game is the premise behind this easy approach. The question here is not about grilling the women’s team for this failure, it is about having a good word with them about the expectations of the country from the players who have become stars in their own way after their World Cup victory. The fans are back and its proof was found in the Women’s Premier League when viewership swelled exponentially. The same fans also seek India’s dominance in all formats of cricket. And this is the point the BCCI, the team management and the selectors need to deliberate upon seriously after the Test defeat. The answer can be in the lack of Test matches scheduled for the women’s team. It is a simple matter of logistics and scheduling. The position BCCI enjoys in the International Cricket Council (ICC) should be proactively used to draft a Future Tours Programme which facilitates more Test matches. It is not only the need of the Indian team but also a necessity for the game. The longest format deserves full respect. It has to coexist with the white-ball jamboree on equal footing. The BCCI must ponder over the numbers that underline the dearth of women’s Test matches. Since their first Test in 1976, Indian women have played only 42 matches overall. Before this Perth game, India’s last overseas Test was in October 2021 when they drew a pink-ball match against Australia on the Gold Coast. It sums up the case.