A special win on a special occasion: Muzumdar

For all his talent and the mountain of runs he scored in First Class cricket, Amol Muzumdar never got to play a Test, or any other international. He, however, had the honour of guiding India to a comprehensive victory in the first ever women’s Test at Lord’s.

And he is delighted that India could win the historic Test against England in the most convincing of fashions, by 270 runs. “I think it was a special win on a special occasion,” Muzumdar said in an exclusive interview to The Hindu shortly after the game, another highlight of his career as the Indian coach. “This team has been a special one and I keep saying that this is something that we pride ourselves in.”

He is proud of the way the Indian batters played in a format that they are not familiar with. “We have always had this talk within the batting group that we need to adjust to the formats,” said the man who also oversaw India’s epochal triumph in the ODI World Cup last year. “Whether it is T20, ODI or Test, we need to adjust to the formats. Sooner we do it, the better it is. I am really proud of each and every member of this team.”

Indian players celebrate with the trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

He is glad that everyone contributed. “They batted beautifully,” he said. “Richa Ghosh got a fifty, as did Deepti Sharma. And Harmanpreet Kaur got a magnificent fifty. Smriti Mandhana played two big knocks, and even Shafali applied herself really well in the second innings.”

He particularly liked the control with which they all batted. “The control that they showed, not just technically, but also mentally, and the adjustment that they did was really remarkable,” he said. “And we saw controlled aggression from Yastika Bhatia. And just her composure at the crease was really good. The smoothness with which batted was lovely to watch.”

He feels it was a remarkable feat by Yastika, who was coming back from a difficult injury. “She has always been a part of the unit,” Muzumudar said. “She has had to miss out on a lot of stuff, a lot of things. And yeah, she has come back really strongly. That’s why I use the word resilience for Yastika.”

The coach is also happy that Kranti Gaud is bowling with a maturity beyond her years. “Look, it has only been 13 months since Kranti has come into international cricket, but if you have watched her spell at Lord’s, I don’t think anybody would have believed that she is so inexperienced,” he said. “So that’s the depth of Indian cricket, I feel. Her performance shows the system is in place, and that is great on the part of the BCCI. And she is also a product of the WPL and domestic cricket.”

He is also impressed by Kranti’s mature outlook. “You know, she has really got a sense of occasion, and I really appreciate that,” said Muzumdar. “It is not overwhelming for her to play a Test match at Lord’s or anywhere else”.