Indian women to play maiden pink-ball Test in Australia's Perth
Thursday, 20 May 2021 (15:06 IST)
New Delhi: India women cricket team will play their first-ever pink-ball day-night Test match at the WACA during their tour of Australia in September, the cricket boards of both the countries announced on Thursday.
India will become only the third women's team to make their day-night Test debut after Australia and England, who were involved in a pink-ball Ashes game in Sydney in 2017.
The news was confirmed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah on his Twitter handle.
"Taking forward our commitment towards women's cricket, I am extremely pleased to announce that Team India @BCCIwomen will play in their first-ever pink ball day-night Test later this year in Australia," Shah tweeted.
India's tour Down Under will commence with a three-match ODI series between September 19-24.The one-off day-night Test will soon follow suit (September 30 - October 3) and the tour will conclude with a three-match T20I series (October 7-11).
The last time two nations played a Test with each other was way back in 2006, when Australia beat India in Adelaide in an one-off Test.
It will be also the first time since 2014 that the Mithali Raj-led side will be competing in two Test matches in a calendar year. They are scheduled to play a one-off Test against England in Bristol, starting from June 16.
The tour of England will also consist of a three-match ODI and T20I series. The Test against England will be India Women's first since their victory against South Africa in Mysore in November 2014.
Cricket Australia's interim CEO, Nick Hockley, hoped the multi-format series against India would match the drama of last season's test series between the men's teams of the countries.
"The men’s Test series against India last season was an extremely competitive series that came down to the wire and we have no doubt that this women’s multi-format series will be just as hard-fought,'' said Hockley.
"We look forward to welcoming members of the India women’s team to Australia after what has been an incredibly challenging time and thank the BCCI for supporting this ground-breaking tour," he added.
Fixtures
ODI Series:
September 19: North Sydney Oval, Sydney
September 22: Junction Oval, Melbourne
September 24: Junction Oval, Melbourne
One-off Test:
September 30 – October 3: WACA Ground (Day-night), Perth
