"There's No Time To Learn And Adapt.."- Alyssa Healy Reveals Australian Cricket Team's Stance On Playing More Test Matches vs India Women

Australia captain Alyssa Healy expressed disappointment over the loss in the one-off Test against the India women’s team. However, Alyssa Healy described the overall experience as enjoyable and acknowledged the challenges of adapting to the longest format.

Australia Women lost by eight wickets against India Women at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, December 24. The hosts successfully chased down a target of 75 in the post-lunch session, with Smriti Mandhana hitting the winning boundary to seal the game.

Really Enjoyable Experience – Alyssa Healy

Alyssa Healy highlighted the challenges of playing a one-off Test in unfamiliar conditions with limited time for adaptation. Healy expressed immense pride in her team, emphasizing their collective resilience and the determined fight they exhibited during the match.

“At the end of the day, (it was) a really enjoyable experience,” Healy told reporters after the game.

“It was tough work. We knew it was going to be hard work coming over here in particular playing a one-off Test, there’s no real time to learn to adapt, to find a style of play, so we knew it was going to be a tough ask but I’m really proud of our group and the fight that we showed.”

It Would Create A Real Contest Over – Alyssa Healy

The Australian captain expressed her desire for a three-match Test series, emphasizing that playing additional Tests would offer an extraordinary experience and a genuine test of both teams’ capabilities.

“That’s up to the BCCI and Cricket Australia as well to decide whether (multi-Test series are) on the cards or not. Imagine playing two more of these? I think that would be an unbelievable experience for our group and probably a true test of both sides’ abilities,” Healy said.

“I think the one-off Test match, India playing in their home conditions, you’d expect them to be heavy favorites, and the way that I think we tried to adapt and continued to learn throughout the four days was really impressive.”

“So we’d love to see more and more and I think it would create a real contest over three games, but the nature of the female game at the moment is it’s very white-ball dominant and trying to get fit it all into the calendar, and fit all the white-ball games in particular, seems to take precedence.”

India bowled out Australia for 219 runs in the first innings. Tahlia McGrath contributed with a score of 50. Pooja Vastrakar excelled as India’s top bowler, securing figures of 4/53, while Sneh Rana and Deepti Sharma claimed three and two wickets, respectively.

The home team scored 406 runs, securing a substantial 187-run lead in the first innings. Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma each scored half-centuries. Ashleigh Gardner shone with the ball for Australia, taking four wickets.

In the second innings, India dismissed the opponents for 261. Tahlia McGrath scored a crucial half-century of 73 runs. Sneh Rana was the standout performer for India, claiming four wickets, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Harmanpreet Kaur took two wickets each.

Also read: IND-W vs AUS-W: Watch: Harmanpreet Kaur Gets Engaged In A Fiery Face-Off With Alyssa Healy