Mithali calls for return of red-ball cricket in domestic cricket

Gold Coast: India skipper Mithali Raj on Wednesday called for the return of red-ball cricket in women’s domestic circuit if one-off Tests become a regular feature in their international assignments. Mithali, whose side has just got two practice sessions ahead of the historic day-night Test against Australia starting Thursday, wanted more preparation time but the […]

Gold Coast: India skipper Mithali Raj on Wednesday called for the return of red-ball cricket in women’s domestic circuit if one-off Tests become a regular feature in their international assignments. Mithali, whose side has just got two practice sessions ahead of the historic day-night Test against Australia starting Thursday, wanted more preparation time but the Covidhit scheduling did not allow that. India played their first Test in seven years in June and the Australia Test is their first with pink-ball.

“Clearly, if the girls need to do well in this format they have to have some sort of match experience in the domestic circuit. So, if this (Test) is going to be regular (feature) then probably we will have another addition to our domestic calendar of playing days format,” said Mithali on the eve of the day-nighter.

The two-day red ball matches in domestic cricket were discontinued after the 2018-19 season. Mithali said all the young players, who play leagues around the world, also want to play Tests and that is a healthy sign for women’s cricket. She called the two Tests this year a significant development in the game.

“If this becomes a regular feature in a bilateral series, playing three formats will definitely help all the players because that’s the feedback I get most of the time that every player, even the today’s player who is part of various leagues, they love to play the longer format.”

BCCI has, in principle, agreed to slot in a Test whenever the team plays England and Australia. “I feel whether you play with the red colour or pink ball, if the Test format is part of the itinerary, it really helps,” said Mithali adding that it would be nice to play a Test at home also.

Asked why no pink ball practice was arranged in the pre-tour camp in Bengaluru, Mithali said the focus then was on the white-ball series. “We were preparing for the one day series back home in Bangalore so it was more to do with the white ball of course. We tried and played few games under the lights to get used to the day and night Test and one off day-night ODI.

“Yeah, if we could have got a little more time between the last ODI and the Test, it would be quite helpful but again I understand it was shortened because of the COVID protocols… but playing Test at home also will be quite significant,” she said. Talking about limited exposure to pink ball, Mithali said: “I’m playing for the first time with pink ball so I can’t really say what the challenges would be but yes whatever little I have faced in the nets, it does seam quite a bit.

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