WTC final | India announce 15-man squad, no place for Mayank Agarwal, Shardul Thakur

INDW vs ENGW | When and where to watch, pitch report, playing XI details

The Indian women’s team will be facing England in a one-off Test in Bristol. The Mithali Raj-led side will feature in a Test after seven years. They last played a Test against South Africa at home in Mysore which they won by an innings and 34 runs. India last played a Test against the English team back in 2014 in Wormsley where they emerged victorious by 6 wickets. Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey and Ekta Bisht are some of the players who were a part of that squad that played the last Test for India against the England back in 2014. Match Details Match: IND-W vs ENG-W Test match Date and Time: 16th June 2021 to 19th June 2021 3.30 PM IST Telecast: Sony Sports Network Pitch Report The track on the first day would have something on offer for the pacers while it might suit the batters on the second and third day of the match. However, chasing a total can still be a tough task. So, the winning the toss would probably elect to bat first in Bristol. Probable XI India: Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Mithali Raj(c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Tanya Bhatia(wk), Jhulan Goswami, Punam Yadav, Ekta Bisht. England: Amy Jones(wk), Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight(c), Georgia Elwiss, Natalie Sciver, Fran Wilson, Katherine Brunt, Anya Shurbsole, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone, Natasha Farrant. Fantasy XI Amy Jones, Heather Knight, Mithali Raj (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Fran Wilson, Natalie Sciver, Jhulan Goswami, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Anya Shurbsole, Poonam Yadav

One-off Test between INDW & ENGW to be played on a used wicket in Bristol: Reports

The women’s Test match between India and England in Bristol will be held on a used wicket according to reports. A men’s T20 Blast game was held last week. India women’s team will be playing a Test match after almost seven years. They last featured in a longer format game was back in 2014/15 when they hosted South Africa in Mysore and defeated them by an innings and 34 runs. India and England last played each in a Test was back in 2014 in Wormsley where the visiting team emerged victorious by 6 wickets. Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey and Ekta Bisht are some of the players who were a part of that squad who played the last Test against the English team and have been selected to face England in this historic match as well. The selectors recently named the Indian squad for the UK tour. Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues who have made a good name for themselves in the limited-overs formats are the two players in the side who are likely to play their first ever Test for the team. Harmanpreet Kaur had earlier said that the team got an opportunity to interact with India men’s Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on how he approaches the Test format. "I have not played much red-ball cricket, I have played just two Tests. This time we got a chance to speak to Ajinkya Rahane, we picked his brain on how to bat in the longer format, mentally we are prepared," said Harmanpreet during a virtual press conference. SQUAD: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.

Women's T20 competition to be held from July 29 to August 7 at Birmingham CWG

The T20s competition for the women’s at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games will be held between July 29 to August 7 at Edgbaston, the organisers said on Tuesday. "With 11 days of swimming and diving, 8 days of cricket, 8 days of gymnastics and 7 days of athletics, including the marathon, the summer of 2022 is set for a spectacular home Games," the official website said. "The Birmingham 2022 competition schedule features more medal events for women than men for the first time in Commonwealth Games history, as well as a fully integrated para-sport programme." This would be the second instance when cricket will feature in the Commonwealth Games and first for the women’s game. The last time cricket was a part of the Commonwealth games was back in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. The competition saw 50-over format being played during the course. Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, hosts England, and a country from the Caribbean islands have made the cut for the competition. The teams apart from England made the qualification on the basis of their rankings as on April 1, 2021. The eight spot in the tournament will be decided after the conclusion of a qualifying event that would be held in January next year. The winners of this will march ahead. The Commonwealth Games are scheduled to take place from July 28 to August 8 next year.

WTC final | Sachin Tendulkar backs Pujara's methods, suggests India to play both Ashwin, Jadeja

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has thrown his weight behind India’s number three in the longest format Cheteshwar Pujara and said that the world should be far more appreciative of his efforts and achievements rather than putting his batting under the scanner every now and then. Pointing out the role he performs for the Virat Kohli-led Indian side that possess assembly lines of stroke players such as Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tendulkar said that Pujara has fit in perfectly with the role of providing a solid foundation at the top of the order over the past number of years. "I think we should appreciate what Cheteshwar Pujara has been able to achieve for India. It's not always going about and maintaining a strike rate and in Test cricket, you need different kind of planning and different kind of players to fit into your team," Tendulkar said in an interview with PTI. "It’s like five fingers in your hands. Each finger has a different role and Pujara is an integral part of our team. I really like what Pujara has done for India. Rather than scrutinising his each innings, we should be appreciative of what he has done for India. Expressing his hard discontent words the critics of Pujara, Tendulkar said that people who are judging his batting credentials have not played enough game at the top level to understand its nuances. He also blamed the change in the thought process of followers of the game in the contemporary era of cricket dominated by T20s where batsmen are judged on the basis of their hard-hitting abilities behind people questioning Pujara’s strike rate and at times inability to get things going at a brisk pace. "Guys who are digging deep into his technique and rotation, I don''t think those guys have played as much top level cricket as Pujara. They possibly don''t understand. In today''s age of T20, probably if someone can hit the ball, he is regarded as a good player. It is not necessary that person has to be a good Test player. In Test cricket, you need much more than just hitting the ball and trying to play big shots,’ one of the best batsman to have ever played the game said. He pointed out that India have Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja too, who have the task of enforcing the pace of the game and scoring quickly to change the momentum. However, Pujara’s role is to blunt the new ball and tire the opposition bowling attack so as the aggressive batsmen can cash in on a bit less intense bowling lineups. "For strike-rate, we have players like Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. They can always increase the strike rate. But when it comes to tire the opposition and where you require planning and vision to execute whatever your strategies are, for that you need a Cheteshwar." India have a problem of plenty going into the World Test Championship final against New Zealand but for Tendulkar, both Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin should play the big game as they can provide solidity to the lower order along with the wickets they can take with the ball. He said that India should field a bowling attack comprising of two spinners and three pacers. "The possibility, according to me, is to play three fast bowlers and two spinners because both (Ashwin and Jadeja) can bat. Eventually how the team management feels after looking at the wicket matters," Tendulkar said. India have to ponder over the three pacers in the lineup as well as the newest member with the ball Mohammed Siraj contributed immensely to help India win the series in Australia in the absence of all senior members of the attack such as Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav.