Mithali calls for more Tests for women

Hyderabad: India’s star batswoman Mithali Raj on Wednesday asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to organise more Test matches for the Indian women’s team.

India is scheduled to play a Test match during their tour of England in August, which will be their first Test match in eight years since 2006.

“We are touring England in August and we are playing one Test. Though I have scored 214 in a Test match I am playing a Test after eight long years. As an experienced cricketer, I would take some time to prepare my temperament and preparation needed for Test cricket. It is sad that there are so less Test matches in women’s cricket and I hope the Boards come together and organise more Test matches for women’s cricket,” Raj said during the Sports Journalists’ Federation of India (SJFI) convention here.

Raj, 31, has played 148 One-Day Internationals for India since making her debut in 1999 but has featured in only eight Tests since 2008. The right-hander stressed that the takeover of Indian women’s cricket by the BCCI had proven to be beneficial but also had its flipside.

“I would say good but there is a flipside to it also. The domestic cricket is organised well and we get access to facilities like the National Cricket Academy. There are also monetary benefits like you get paid but the flipside is that the domestic cricket is very short. I believe that you need to play more domestic matches to produce more players,” she said.

Former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha, who is the CEO of Olympic Gold Quest, stressed the role of the organisation in helping raise funds to support training of the Indian athletes to prepare for big events like Olympic Games.

Rasquinha also spoke on OGQ’s recently-introduced crowd funding programme through Ketto to raise funds for four of their athletes.

P V Sindhu revealed she is working hard to win medals at both the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games to held later this year.