Indian women were not playing test cricket for a long time and returned to the format after a gap of almost 7 years. A combination of 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is and one test match is packaged as a multi format series in women's cricket. The format has been used in the women's Ashes for a long time where England women and Australia women compete against each other.
With India also resuming test cricket, the BCCI had talks with the England cricket board and cricket Australia and decided to put this format through a test for India as well. It turned out to be a resounding success as India played two multi-format series, first against England and then against Australia in 2021.
Although the team lost both the series, they were in contention for winning right till the end and played some brilliant cricket. The test matches in both the series were the stand out.
A result was not possible in both matches but the Women's cricket fans got to see a side of the game which they are not used to. The ebbs and flows of test cricket in the women's game were a treat to watch.
To their credit, despite little practice or experience of the format, India performed brilliantly and gave tough competition to both England and Australia.
England captain Heather Knight stressed on the importance of the multi-format series and how test cricket has added a different facet to the beautiful game.
“We always want to put on a show, because we haven’t had fans in there for so long. India are a very strong side and naturally there will be a contest there and they’re going to be hard to beat so I guess that will hopefully be fun to watch. We’ve got a huge year next year and the start of that development and getting the girls in the right place, getting the team in the right place and getting the right people in the right positions is going to be really clear in our preparations this summer obviously going into next year."
“It is no secret that this Test is a huge part of our preparation going into the Ashes Test match away from home. Sometimes it’s tricky when you play Test cricket so rarely to know exactly what to do in that situation, we haven’t been put regularly in those situations, we don’t play any multi-inning cricket domestically, we are finding our feet a little bit as we go.”
