‘India Banking On Coach Amol Muzumdar’s Experience’: Smriti Mandhana Ahead Of England Test

With the Indian girls’s group missing sufficient red-ball publicity, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana stated her younger teammates are choosing the brains of latest head coach Amol Muzumdar to get into red-ball mindset forward of the one-off Test in opposition to England. Two years in the past, India had performed a few Tests in England and Australia in June and September with each the four-day video games ending in attracts. In comparability, England have had a more moderen expertise of enjoying red-ball cricket as their final sport was in opposition to Australia within the Women’s Ashes in June this yr.

Mandhana, who herself has performed simply 4 Tests in a decade-long profession, feels the presence of Muzumdar, a former home participant and captain, will probably be essential as they put together for the four-day sport beginning right here on Thursday.

“We have an experienced coach in Amol sir. He has played so much of Ranji Trophy cricket and is used to playing a lot of four-day (cricket),” Mandhana instructed the media right here forward of India’s coaching session.

“More than two or three of us, he has more experience of red-ball cricket. I can see a lot of girls approaching him and asking how his mindset was,” she added.

Even although the Indians have been away from top-flight red-ball cricket for the previous 24 months, they’ve been coaching with the pink ball below Muzumdar, who was appointed as head coach in October this yr.

The group had a coaching camp in Bengaluru and in addition took half in an intra-squad match for 4 days.

“We did have one practice match, all the girls were a part of it. I was not able to play because of a little bit of physical issue but we had a good match in Bangalore for four days, India A versus India A, that was a good prep to get the girls into the habit of playing red-ball cricket,” Mandhana stated.

“In Bangalore, before the girls left for the zonal (competition), we focussed on both white ball and red ball. Even the players who were not a part of the T20I squad were practicing on their own. Today and tomorrow (Wednesday) are going to be important.” Both India and England have gotten solely a three-day hole to arrange for the one-off Test to be performed on the DY Patil Stadium.

“It starts from today — the mental and physical preparation — and hopefully we can execute what we have thought about the way the Test formats needs us to,” Mandhana stated.

India may even play a Test in opposition to Australia on the Wankhede stadium from December 21.

“It requires both the aspects – the mental and the physical – because the bodies are not used to playing four days of cricket. We generally play T20s and ODIs a lot more which has gaps.

“More than the bodily half, (it) being 4 days, (we now have to be) mentally there, extra energetic, making an attempt to deal with each ball, particularly the way in which you bat will change so much.”

More Tests will put focus on four-day cricket in domestic cricket

Mandhana hoped there would be more long format games at the international level which would force the national bodies to focus on four-day matches in domestic cricket.

“To be honest, we play quite a lot of T20Is and one-dayers within the final 4-5 years. The home construction is shaped by way of getting us the T20 and one-day expertise as a result of we had extra World Cups,” she said.

“The construction was designed in keeping with that. We didn’t play as many, in fact, I’ve performed solely 4 in 10 years.

“The more amount of Test matches increase internationally, we will see maybe a new tournament in domestic which will be focused on two-day or four-day, whatever the long form they decide on.

“It is at all times the worldwide calls for, no matter they’re, the home are designed in keeping with the way in which the demand goes to be,” she added.