India v England: Heather Knight 'desperate' to end near-decade wait for Test win
- Published
England captain Heather Knight is set to make her 253rd international appearance during the Test against India in Mumbai
Women's Test: India v England |
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Venue: Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai Date: 14-17 December Time: 04:00 GMT |
Coverage: Follow live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app. |
England are "desperate" for a win in their Test match against India, but there is "anxiety, worry and stress" in the squad, admits captain Heather Knight.
England go into the one-off four-day Test, which starts at 04:00 GMT on Thursday in Mumbai, having not won any of their past seven Tests.
Their last red-ball win was against Australia in Perth in the 2014 Ashes.
"It feels like a long time since we've done that [won]," said Knight.
"We've had a lot of draws and everything we are working towards is about how we want to play the game and if we look after that, hopefully we will come out with a nice result."
The Test follows a 2-1 series win in the T20 series and is the final match of a busy 2023 for Knight's side.
Their last red-ball game saw them suffer a 89-run defeat by Australia in the women's Ashes at Trent Bridge in June.
"The last few Test matches we've played, we've had a really clear plan of how we want to go about things and that's all towards trying to win," said Knight.
"We played a brilliant Test against Australia. We finished on the wrong side of the result, but it was certainly very entertaining and we're pleased with how we played and were in a position to win."
Preparing for the unknown
Although Knight will be playing her 253rd international match when she leads England out in Mumbai, it will only be her 12th Test and her first in India.
While England are playing their first multi-day game in the subcontinent since November 2005, India are playing their first home Test for nine years.
The preparation for both sides has been restricted, with the T20 series only coming to an end on Sunday.
"We had a day to travel up here after the T20 series and we've only had two days to prep, so it's a really quick turnaround and we don't play Test cricket very often," said Knight.
"Naturally, it's something we've talked about and there's bound to be more anxiety and more worry and more stress around the group, purely because it's something we've not played often.
"In Canberra in 2022 we had two days to prep after the T20 series because of the condensed nature of the series because of Covid. We've talked about having done it before and in my experience, getting your mindset is really important.
"It's going to be fun. It's certainly going to test us as cricketers."
England to name team at toss
Knight said England are "pretty sure" on their team, but they were "going to leave it a little bit longer to account for the conditions".
Tammy Beaumont will have a new partner at the top of the order after Emma Lamb returned home with a back injury. England have options with Danni Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Maia Bouchier and Alice Capsey all having filled the role in white-ball cricket.
Knight said England are still weighing up the balance of their side, but they are "leaning towards the extra bowler with the heat and the conditions".
Fast bowlers Kate Cross and Lauren Filer have joined the squad, as does Beaumont, after not featuring in the T20 series.
India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh (wk), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh Thakur, Meghna Singh, Titas Sadhu, Saika Ishaque, Satheesh Shubha.
England squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Kirstie Gordon, Bess Heath, Amy Jones (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt.