June 16 will be a historic day for India women's team as Mithali Raj will lead the side into a Test match against hosts England, their first in seven years. (More Cricket News)
After Test, India are slated to play three T20 internationals and as many ODIs against England.
"I think it is great to play a Test, whether at home or away. If it continues then great, because it helps the players. Sometimes it is nice to just go without any baggage and play and enjoy the atmosphere," Mithali had said in his pre-departure interaction.
"It is good to have girls who are playing for the first time and girls who have played in the past, may be (they can) share some experience about how it was in 2014.I guess having two back-to-back Test matches touring England and Australia can give a lot of exposure to the current lot and if that can be carried forward in the coming years, it will be great for the sport," Raj added.
England vice-captain Nat Sciver is aware of the fact that India are coming into this Test match after a long gap.
"They're an ever-growing side," Sciver said, adding, "There's always a new, young talent on the team who isn't afraid to go out there and show what they've got. They seem to be more fearless than I've seen before.
India will surely rely on the experince of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami hoping that the two are able to guide the youngsters in the side playing in the longer format for the first time.
Last time the two sides squared off in a Test, India won the match that was played in 2014.
While India have only played one Test since their last meeting, an innings victory at home over South Africa in November 2014, England have played three, all against Australia in Women's Ashes.
Head-to-Head: Matches 13: England Won: 1, India Won 2; Drawn 10
Match and Telecast Details
Match: England Women vs India Women 1st Test
Date: June 16 to 19
Venue: County Ground, Bristol
Timings: 3:30PM IST
Live Streaming and Telecast: The match will be shown live on Sony platform 1 with live streaming is on SonyLIV
Likely XIs:
India: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav
Full Squad:
India’s Senior Women squad for Test and ODI : Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.
T20I Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain) Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Simaran Dil Bahadur.
India Women vs England Women Full Schedule:
- June 16 -19, Test Match, Bristol
- June 27, 1st ODI, Bristol
- June 30, 2nd ODI (D/N), Taunton
- July 3, 3rd ODI, Worcester
- July 9, 1st T20 (D/N), Northants
- July 11, 2nd T20, Hove
- July 15, 3rd T20 (D/N), Chelmsford