Red-ball domestic cricket for women should restart so players get used to multi-day format: Shantha Rangaswamy

Shantha Rangaswamy said that four-day Tests are enough for women’s cricket and that the focus should instead be on getting more countries to play long-form cricket. India are unbeaten in the two Tests they played away from home this year against England and Australia. (Courtesy of BCCI)HIGHLIGHTSRangaswamy said that players will get used to the format if it is played in the domestic circuitShe said a women’s Test should be hosted in a smaller centre if played in IndiaMithali Raj had also called for resumption of domestic red ball cricketFormer India women’s captain Shantha Rangaswamy has called for restarting red ball cricket for women in the country’s domestic circuit. The two-day red ball matches were discontinued after the 2018/19 season and yet, India have managed draws against England and Australia away from home this year.

The latter was a day-night Test played with the pink ball and India dominated much of the match before they ran out of time and the hosts escaped with a draw. Large parts of the match was lost to rain.”Results should come in four days only. It is more than enough. There was too much time lost to the weather in this game,” Rangaswamy, who also a member of BCCI Apex Council and former chief selector, told PTI. Rangaswamy said that the focus should be, instead, on getting more teams to play women’s Tests.”Instead, focus should be on more countries playing the longer format. BCCI and Jay Shah must be congratulated here for resuming Tests for women and it is likely to be regular feature in our series with England and Australia going forward,” said Rangaswamy.She said that if India hosts women’s Tests, it should be held in a smaller centre so that there will good attendance and also called for the resumption of long-form domestic cricket for players to get used to the format.”Whenever a Test happens in India, I would want it to be in a smaller centre which can draw more crowd. Also, it would be ideal if red ball cricket is restarted for the players to get used to the multi-day format,” she said.Earlier, India captain Mithali Raj had also said that domestic red-ball cricket has to resume in India if the national team is going to play Tests more regularly.Click here for our site’s complete coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.