It is turning out to be an Indian summer in England.
The brave young Indian Test team has exceeded expectations to keep the series alive going into the last day of the fifth Test at The Oval. The spirited fightback by Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja at Old Trafford ensured that the Indians could travel from Manchester to London for the final Test with their heads held high.
India’s Under-19 team also showed in England that the nation’s cricket looks bright in the longer term as well, winning the ODI series and drawing both Tests.
India’s female cricketers have done even better. They won their first ever T20I series against England. And they followed it up by winning the ODI series as well.
Granted, this England side is still in a process of transition, under a new captain in Nat Sciver-Brunt and new coach in Charlotte Edwards – both popular in India because of their mighty successful association for Mumbai Indians at the Women’s Premier League.
England had a disastrous tour Down Under. They were thrashed by arch rival Australia rather badly.
The Englishwomen lost all the three ODIs, three T20Is and the one-off Test, forcing captain Heather Knight and coach Jon Lewis to leave their positions. So Edwards and Sciver-Brunt had a task on their hands when they assumed charge for the white-ball series against the West Indies.
And they got off to a perfect start to their partnership, as England won every match against a not-so-strong West Indies side (3-0 in both ODIs and T20Is). That, however, would prove a false dawn.
Despite the humiliation in Australia, nobody could doubt the class of this England women’s team.
In Sciver-Brunt, they have the most complete player in international women’s cricket, and they have depth in batting as well as bowling.
So India’s success in England really matters.
It was in England nearly two decades ago that the Indian women played their first ever T20I. And they ensured it was a memorable occasion, winning the match by eight wickets at Derby in 2006.
But, it has taken them 19 years to win another T20I series against England. In all the six bilateral series in the shortest format before this, England had been the winner.
The Indians won the five-match series with a game to spare. And their wins were authoritative, by 97 runs at Nottingham, by 24 runs at Bristol and by six wickets at Manchester, while England nosed ahead by five runs at The Oval and squeaked through off the last ball at Birmingham.
India then went on to win the ODI series 2-1. The teams were level going into the final ODI: India had won the opening match by four wickets at Southampton but the host bounced back in the rain-affected second game winning by eight wickets.
In the decider at Chester-le-Street, India won by 13 runs. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and seamer Kranti Goud were the architects. And that assumes significance, with the ODI World Cup not far away hosted by India and the island nation Sri Lanka.
The biggest event in women’s cricket, in fact, gets underway with the match between Sri Lanka and India on September 30, scheduled to be held in Bengaluru.
Harmanpreet’s slump in form might have been a worry for the team management. Before the final ODI against England, her scores in the white-ball international matches had read 1, 23, 26, 15, 17 and 7. And her last ODI fifty had come in October 2024. India will need its captain by the time the World Cup arrived.
She dedicated her hundred (102 in 84 balls in the final ODI) to her father. “He has been waiting for this kind of knock,” she said. “I was a little under pressure and wanted to do well for the team and when you work hard, the right time to deliver will come.”
She delivered in style that too after taking 11 balls to get off the mark. She has been one of the hardest hitters in the women’s game, and she can turn a match around without taking much time. Thanks to the massive popularity of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the world has seen her doing that for Mumbai Indians on quite a few occasions.
The WPL has, of course, proved quite a boon for Indian women’s cricket. Right from its inaugural edition in 2023, the tournament has given Indian cricket several young exciting talents. Two of them really stood out on the tour of England.
Left-arm spinner Sree Charani took four for 12 in the first T20I and went on to finish with 10 wickets in the series and was named the Player-of-the-Series. She could prove to be yet another option in the rather long list of spinners for India. She is just 20.
Kranti is a year older. The bowler from Madhya Pradesh has been a revelation and probably the biggest gain from the tour. She took six for 52 to bowl India to that ODI series victory at Chester-le-Street and became the youngest Indian bowler to take six wickets in an ODI.
After that sensational spell, Harmanpreet wanted to share the Player-of-the-Match award with Kranti, and said, “We have been dying for a fast bowler like you.”
True. Kranti could really sharpen the Indian attack. She can work up a good pace, nip the ball back in dangerously and be intimidating with her yorkers. She had made it to the Indian squad during the Sri Lankan tour, before the England series, following Kashvee Gautam’s injury. She is one pacer Indian women’s cricket has to take care of.
Amanjot Kaur is another youngster who contributed significantly to India’s success story in England. The seaming all-rounder’s unbeaten 63 in the second T20I – she came in with India in some trouble at 31 for three inside the PowerPlay – ensured the team had enough runs on the board.
One also recalls Amanjot bowling some fine spells at the Women’s T20 Challenger at Raipur in 2022 and impressing the talent scouts for the WPL, weeks ahead of the first edition’s auction. She was picked up by Mumbai Indians for ₹50 lakh. She has served her franchise well, with both bat and ball.
Now that she has finally reached fifty in international cricket – she had made a 30-ball 41 on her T20I debut against South Africa in 2023 – she could be more confident about batting.
The return of Shafali Verma also augurs for India’s batting. She made her comeback count with some fine knocks, including 75 off just 41 balls in the final T20I. India could exploit her explosive batting in the fifty-over format as well. The team could do well with a phenomenal talent like her at the World Cup.
The way India fielded in England should also make the team management happy.
Though the Women in Blue have often shown sparks of brilliance on the field, especially through some incredible catches by Radha Yadav and Harleen Deol, they have not always been as consistent as they have been on this tour.
This time there was an all-round effort on the field, and that helped India win some crucial moments, such as the stunning catch Deepti Sharma took with one hand to dismiss Amy Jones off Kranti in the final ODI.
In the same match, there was another diving catch, by Jemimah Rodrigues to send back Charlie Dean, again off Kranti.
The Indians should maintain the high standard in fielding during their World Cup campaign. Before that, there is the three-match ODI series against Australia coming up.
Harmanpreet’s side could not have asked for an ideal preparation.
