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Timing of declaration was a little tricky, says Mithali

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Last updated on 03 Oct 2021 | 05:09 PM
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Timing of declaration was a little tricky, says Mithali

Mithali termed this as the best Test match performance by India considering this was their first Day/Night Test

Indian Women dominated the proceedings in a game were 80 plus overs were lost in the first two days due to rain accompanied by lightning. Many expected India to declare their second innings at tea but they did come out for a few more overs setting up an improbable victory target of 272 for the hosts in a quarter of the session. Captain Mithali Raj, on Sunday, said that it was a "tricky" call as to when India would declare their second innings and try for an outside chance of victory against Australia in the drawn 'Day/Night' Test which ended on Sunday.

"It was a little tricky as to when we could declare. Getting eight wickets in 15 overs was a bit of a stretch," Mithali said at the post-match media conference.

Mithali termed this as the best Test match performance by India considering this was their first Day/Night Test and certainly better than their away win against England in 2014.

"Against the best sides, definitely yes. (Against) Australia this is the best game we've played. But in 2014, with eight debutants winning a Test in England against England, who had just won the Ashes. That was also very close. That was pretty great. The girls really put up a great show," she replied asked about her personal favorite.

About her playing future, Raj, who is also the ODI captain, said "Well...My goal is the World Cup. Let's come to that once I finish playing the World Cup."

The Indian captain also said that when they got into the England series, they had earmarked certain players for certain roles. "When we got into the England series, we had earmarked certain players for certain roles. We made it clear to the players that they would get game time to understand their role so they know what to do properly by the World Cup. We had a good one-on-one talk with all the players along with Ramesh and me... that's what we did," she added.

Mott rues missed opportunities

Australian coach Matthew Mott rued the missed opportunities in the game but was all praise for the Indian attack. "If we could have kept them under 270, it would have been a different match altogether. We didn't execute as well as we should have and there were eight chances," he said at the virtual post-match media interaction.

He further said they would have liked to have taken a chance but it would have given India a chance. "We would've liked to take the game on and take a chance. But it would give India a chance and we could have lost four points. We've discussed changes multiple times. From 6 points to 4 and even 2. That might help teams roll the dice a bit more. It's only human," Mott said.

"Taking it back to 2 points so there's less to lose and make for more entertaining cricket is probably the way to go. We want to put on a spectacle and play the game in the right spirit," he added.

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