India women vs Australia Test: India would be hard to beat in their home conditions, reckons Alyssa Healy

Australia women’s team captain Alyssa Healy believes that India will be a really hard team to beat on home soil given the talent of the dressing room. Harmanpreet Kaur-led India take on Australia in an Only Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai starting from Thursday (21 December).

India recently thumped England by 347 runs in a one-off Test in Navi Mumbai, with Deepti Sharma picking up nine wickets in the contest.

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“India, obviously in their home conditions, are really, really hard to beat. We have had some success over here in the past – do not get me wrong – but the sheer amount of talent in that dressing room, you cannot underestimate at any point in time,” Healy said at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

Healy said that despite Australia getting the better of India in major tournaments recently, including the T20 World Cup final in 2020, or the semi-final of the T20 World Cup this year, India could be an “incredibly dominant” side in the years to come.

“We have seen over the last couple of years that we have managed to get the edge over them a little bit in key moments in key tournaments, but it is not too far down the down the path that, that is going to swing. This Indian team is going to be incredibly dominant for a long period of time,” added the 33-year-old.

The only Test will be followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is. Healy, who was named Australia’s permanent skipper recently following Meg Lanning’s retirement, said India-Australia series were always “hotly contested”.

“These Australia versus India series are hotly contested. (It) does not matter what format it is, it is always really, really competitive. They are two of the best sides in the world going head-to-head. “We want to test our skills against the best. What India possess in that dressing room is some real talent and some real skill,” added Healy.

The right-handed batter stressed on the importance of starting the tour with a Test match.

“Everyone will have the Test match at the back of their mind and thinking about it. Jill Kennare was the last captain to play a Test match over here. I actually have heard from her in the last couple of days to wish us all the best,” she further stated.