Harmanpreet Kaur ruled out of pink-ball Test against Australia, confirms Mithali Raj

Queensland [Australia], September 29 (ANI): India women's Test skipper Mithali Raj on Wednesday confirmed that Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the upcoming pink-ball Test against Australia. India and Australia will lock horns in the pink-ball Test, beginning Thursday. This will be the first Test for India women under lights.

"I think the first session we had with the pink ball was yesterday. Yes, everybody had a different experience because we are not used to the pink ball, it does move around quite a bit. I think that is the pretty much first impression we got with the pink ball," said Mithali during a virtual press conference.

"We are quite pleased with the way the three fast bowlers have bowled in the ODI series. Jhulan being the most experienced and she is helping the others -- Pooja Vastrakar and Meghna. I think we do have some quality seamers in Meghna and Pooja, we do have Shikha Pandey also. I think it is a good pace department that we now have in the side," said the India skipper while replying to an ANI query.

When asked about the update on Harmanpreet Kaur who had missed the ODI series, Mithali said: "She is ruled out for the Test match."

"Definitely, the most significant thing is that we had two Tests this year. We played one in England and now we are playing against Australia. If this becomes a regular feature in bilateral series, then women's cricket will thrive. I get this feedback most of the time, even today's players who play in different leagues, they also love to play the longer format, if it becomes a regular thing, it will be great for women's cricket," said Mithali when asked how important is pink-ball Test for women's cricket.

When asked about the Indian bowling attack, Mithali said: "We definitely are taking the confidence from the ODI format where we were able to take eight-nine wickets. They did a good job in ODIs, Test is a little different. You cannot really say from the outside that we are going to score heavily and take 20 wickets, our target will be to take 20 wickets." (ANI)