Sourav Ganguly has 2 special 2021 gifts for the ever-growing Indian women's cricket team

Fans did not get a chance to experience much out of the Indian women’s cricket for the first half of the 2021 calendar year. The last series that the Indian women's cricket team played was on March 7, 2021, against South Africa. However, the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI has organized a number of fixtures for the women’s team in the second half of the year.

Test match after 8 years in India vs England 2021 series

The Indian women's cricket team will play Test cricket after nearly 8 years with Sourav Ganguly's backing in India vs England 2021 series. The last Test played by the Indian team was against South Africa in the year 2014. The Indian women’s team will play the Test match led by Mithali Raj from June 16-20 against England in Bristol. They are also set to play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is on their England tour. Sourav Ganguly informed that the women’s team will leave for England on June 2 as per multiple reports. In fact, Harmanpreet Kaur confirmed on Twitter on Tuesday itself that for the first time ever, the Indian men's and women's team will be flying together to England for their respective tours.

India women's team to play 2 Tests in 2021

2021 will also be the year when the women’s cricket team will play 2 Tests] in the same calendar year since 2014. The Indian team is expected to play another Test match in Australia during the India tour of Australia that will take place in September. The Mithali Raj-led Indian team will be playing a Test match in Australia after 15 years. The last Test match that the Indian women’s team played in Australia was in the year 2006.

The Indian team has played a total of 9 Test matches against Australia out of which 4 matches have been won by Australia and 5 matches have seen the result of a draw. The Australia Test match is expected to be a part of a bilateral series which will also feature an ODI series. The last time when the Indian women’s team played 2 Test matches in the same year was in 2014 where they faced England in August and South Africa in November of the same year.

Appointment of Ramesh Powar as the head coach

Earlier, fans were skeptical about the direction of the women’s cricket in India set by the BCCI after the postponement of the Women's IPL Challenge this season. However, the upcoming fixtures will see a lot of noteworthy matches taking place for the Indian women’s cricket team in 2021 year. The BCCI also announced the appointment of India's former off-spinner Ramesh Powar as the Head Coach of Team India (Senior Women) on Thursday. It was under the guidance of Ramesh Powar that the women’s cricket team reached the semi-final of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup in 2018 while winning 14 T20 matches in a row.

Image Source: PTI