“We have momentum…”: India Women’s Head Coach Optimistic Ahead Of One-Off Test Against SA

Ahead of their upcoming one-off Test match against South Africa Women, India’s head coach Amol Muzumdar highlighted the team’s momentum following their clean sweep in the ODI series. The Women in Blue secured victories in all three matches against the Proteas.

Addressing the media before the match, Muzumdar emphasized the team’s focus on taking each game as it comes and acknowledged areas for improvement across batting, bowling, fielding, and fitness. He remarked, “I think there’s scope for improvement in all three departments. We do have the momentum… we are trying to focus on every game as it comes. Being in different formats, the demands are different. So, I think the team is up for it. As far as improvement is concerned, I think all three departments, batting bowling, fielding and fitness as well.”

Reflecting on the team environment, Muzumdar expressed satisfaction, stating, “The dressing room atmosphere is good. It’s really been good for the last seven months that we have been together. The dressing room is a special place, we have maintained it always has to be a special place.”

He underscored the team’s enthusiasm for all formats of the game, including Test cricket, noting, “We enjoy playing all three formats of the game, not just Test cricket but ODI and T20. Test cricket is always special, we have maintained this against England and Australia. We have played back-to-back Test matches in December. It was great on BCCI’s part to include the interzonals which happened in multi-day format. Yes, Test cricket is always special and we are looking forward to it.”

India enters the one-off Test match with confidence after securing a six-wicket victory over South Africa in the third ODI. Star opener Smriti Mandhana showcased exceptional form, scoring 343 runs at a strike rate of 103.94 across the ODI series.

India’s squad for the one-off Test includes Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Shubha Satheesh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Uma Chetry (WK), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Saika Ishaque, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Meghna Singh, Priya Punia, and Shabnam Shakil.