“We have momentum…”: India coach ahead of one-off Test against South Africa

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 26 (ANI): Ahead of his side’s one-off Test match against South Africa Women, India head coach Amol Muzumdar said that they have the momentum from the ODI series.

The Women in Blue whitewashed the Proteas as they won all three matches of the ODI series.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Muzumdar said that the Women in Blue are focusing on one game at a time.

“I think there’s scope for improvement in all three departments. We do have the momentum… we are trying to focus on every game as it comes. Being in different formats, the demands are different. So, I think the team is up for it. As far as improvement is concerned, I think all three departments, batting bowling, fielding and fitness as well,” Muzumdar said.

“The dressing room atmosphere is good. It’s really been good for the last seven months that we have been together. The dressing room is a special place, we have maintained it always has to be a special place,” he added.

The head coach said Harmanpreet Kaur’s side enjoys playing in all three formats of cricket.

“We enjoy playing all three formats of the game, not just Test cricket but ODI and T20. Test cricket is always special, we have maintained this against England and Australia. We have played back-to-back Test matches in December. It was great on BCCI’s part to include the interzonals which happened in multi-day format. Yes, Test cricket is always special and we are looking forward to it,” he added.

India are coming into the one-off Test match, which begins Friday, after beating South Africa in the third ODI match by six wickets.

India opener Smriti Mandhana is at her topmost as she scored 343 runs at a strike rate of 103.94 in the three matches of the series.

India’s Test squad for one-off Test: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Shubha Satheesh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Uma Chetry (WK), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Saika Ishaque, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Meghna Singh, Priya Punia, Shabnam Shakil.