New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Niki Prasad, who captained India to the 2025 U19 Women’s T20 World Cup title, believes the senior women's team's historic 270-run win over England in the first-ever women's Test at Lord's has been a huge source of inspiration for young cricketers striving to break into the national side.
Earlier on Monday, Harmanpreet Kaur's side pulled off a landmark triumph in the first-ever women’s Test held at Lord's after bundling out England for 186. Wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia struck 113, becoming the first woman to score a century in a Test at Lord's, while Kranti Gaud's five-wicket haul earned her a place on the historic honours board.
Off-spin bowling all-rounder Sneh Rana then wrapped up the contest with a four-wicket haul in the second innings, as India sealed their second-highest Test win by runs and, overall, their fourth-biggest Test victory.
"I think definitely watching them play such good cricket - it was really inspiring to see them win, and especially coming right after the T20 games. It is pretty difficult to adapt to Test matches, especially in India, as we do not play a lot of red-ball cricket.
“So I think the way they went over there and handled the situation and played according to the situation and got that century and five-for, I think it was really inspiring for us as young cricketers to watch that and see how the Indian women's team were able to achieve that historical win. So it was really inspiring," Niki, a JSW Sports-supported athlete, told IANS in an exclusive conversation on Friday.
Niki recently featured for the India A women's team on their tour of England, where they won the 50-over series 2-1. The right-handed batter also spoke about the increasing emphasis on red-ball preparedness at the domestic level via the revival of inter-zonal multi-day tournaments and specialised camps at the BCCI CoE in Bengaluru.
"I think here in India, we're slowly starting to get a lot of red-ball tournaments. I think they had added one to the domestic circuit - the senior multi-days. Even when there are camps happening at CoE, they also prepare us to be able to play red-ball cricket.
“I think that preparation has started slowly, and we've already seen the result of that -- India winning at Lord's. So I think in the future, in the next couple of years, we are just going to keep getting better in all the formats, not just one," she said.
Looking ahead, Niki revealed that a month-long targeted camp at the CoE, starting in August, along with a busy India A calendar, will keep her occupied for the next six months. "Definitely -- like, there are a lot of tournaments that are coming up for India A. Also, we have this targeted camp next month, which is starting in August.
“That's like one whole month of camp. So, I think we are going to get used to playing T20, one-day, and test matches in that camp. That would be a really good preparation going forward to the domestic or to the WPL and India A series, and that is what is looking like for the next six months," she concluded.
--IANS
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