Got a chance to speak to Ajinkya Rahane, picked his brain on how to bat in the longer format: Harmanpreet Kaur

India’s Women team are all set to script history as they will be playing their first Test in the past seven years. India Women will lock horns against England Women in a lone Test match from June 16 to June 19 at the County Ground in Bristol. With the Test match round the corner, India’s Test vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur revealed that the women’s team picked the brains of India’s men Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane.

Along with the women’s team, India’s men’s team is also in the United Kingdom (UK) as they will square off against New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship followed by five-match series against England. Speaking about their upcoming Test against England Women, Harmanpreet reckoned that a friendly and easy chat with Rahane benefited them to a great extent. 

“I have not played much of red-ball cricket, I have played just two Tests. This time we got a chance to speak to Ajinkya Rahane, we picked his brain on how to bat in the longer format, mentally we are prepared. Even in the nets, we try to be in the right frame of mind. 

“When you are happy, you play good cricket. We try to play to our strengths. We had an easy and friendly talk with Rahane, he is very experienced, we had a chance to talk to him and we did exactly that,” said Harmanpreet during a virtual press conference.

In the coming years, we will get more red-ball games: Harmanpreet Kaur

The pitch and weather conditions in England are a lot different from those in India. Thus, it will be a challenge for the Indian Women to adapt to the conditions considering that they haven’t featured in a red-ball match since 2014.

When the team’s vice-captain was questioned regarding the same, she asserted that India haven’t gotten much time to get used to the English conditions but they will need to adapt quickly. The veteran also hopes for India to get more red-ball games in the future. 

“I know we did not get much time to prepare, we did not get enough time to practice but as players, we need to adapt. Wickets here are different, today and tomorrow, we need to do the needful to prepare ourselves.

“Well, it is totally different scenario when you play red-ball cricket, it is important to get used to the conditions. We did not get domestic games with the red ball, but in the coming years, we will get more red-ball games,” she added.