Eng vs Ind - India and England turn to whites as Lord's gears up for a first historic first

Big Picture – A landmark occasion

Fifty years after Rachael Heyhoe-Flint led England in the first women’s international at Lord’s – an ODI against Australia in 1976 – the venue will finally host its first women’s Test. That it has taken this long for the iconic venue to stage one is remarkable in itself, yet the occasion promises to be a landmark.

It’s, however, coming less than a week after England’s heartbreaking defeat to Australia in the women’s T20 World Cup final at the same venue, but the hosts have plenty of reasons to make this one count. They have not won a home Test since 2005, and their only victory against India came more than three decades ago, in 1995.

Their last outing in the format ended in a bruising Ashes defeat at the WACA last year, where Australia romped to victory by an innings and 122 runs. Nat Sciver-Brunt, who scored England’s only half-century in that match, now returns as captain, leading a squad that remains largely intact but has a few new faces.

India too have not had the best journey leading into the Test. The ODI World Cup champions endured a disappointing T20 World Cup, failing to even reach the semi-finals, but their red-ball credentials remain among the strongest in the women’s game in recent times. Since 2021, India have lost only one out of their six Tests and have developed a formula allowing their spinners to dictate games. Their win against England in Navi Mumbai in 2023 also showed how comfortably they can switch gears from one format to the other.

India’s only defeat in that period came against Australia at the WACA earlier this year, where their batters struggled in seaming conditions. They will have to find a way at Lord’s too, which is expected to be more fast bowler-friendly and possibly quite different from the surfaces on which they have built much of their recent success.

Preparation too has been far from ideal for both sides. England have had barely enough time following the T20 World Cup, with Tammy Beaumont admitting many had gone straight into red-ball training without a break. India have had a slightly longer break, but neither side has had the kind of lead-in that this format demands.

This inevitably raises broader questions about the significance of such rare one-off Tests, which are squeezed between white-ball commitments. England, who have played more women’s Tests than any other side, last played one in January 2025. India played one earlier this year after a gap of 18 months. All this raises the question of how teams build continuity or develop skills in the format, which has led to calls for a stronger domestic red-ball structure, with India captain Harmanpreet Kaur reiterating this on the eve of the match as well.

England’s five-day Ashes Test in 2023 drew record crowds, while India have embraced every opportunity they’ve had in the format. With more than 30,000 tickets already sold across the four days, Lord’s has the chance to make a compelling case that this deserves to be more than an occasional celebration.

Form Guide

England LWLLD (last five matches, most recent first)
India LWWWD

In the spotlight – Beaumont and Deepti

All eyes will be on England opener Tammy Beaumont, who will be retiring from international cricket after the Test. Her unbeaten 208 against Australia at Trent Bridge in the 2023 Ashes remains the highest Test score by an English woman and underlined her ability to bat time. At Lord’s, on a surface expected to reward patience, England will once again look to Beaumont to set the tone at the top of the order before she brings the curtain down on a distinguished international career.

Deepti Sharma always finds a way to stand out in important moments for India across formats, but over the years, she’s also built a reputation as a Test player. In just six Tests, she has scored 335 runs and claimed 22 wickets, underlining her value as one of the game’s premier allrounders. In India’s last Test against England in Navi Mumbai, she made a half-century to get India past 400, and then ran through the England line-up across both innings to finish with a match haul of 9 for 39. She also played a key hand in salvaging the drawn Bristol Test in 2021 with a crucial fifty. As India seek to adapt quickly to Lord’s conditions, Deepti’s ability to contribute with both bat and ball could once again shape the outcome.

Team news – England likely to hand few caps

England are likely to hand out a few Test caps tomorrow. Alice Capsey and Mady Villiers are likely to slot into the middle order, while it remains to be seen if 18-year-old Tilly Corteen-Coleman will get a chance.

England (probable): 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Maia Bouchier, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), 4 Heather Knight, 5 Alice Capsey, 6 Amy Jones, 7 Mady Villiers, 8 Issy Wong, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Lauren Filer, 11 Lauren Bell/Tilly Corteen-Coleman

India were dealt a blow ahead of the Test with Pratika Rawal ruled out with injury. Her replacement, Priya Punia, is in contention for a Test debut, although India could go with either Yastika Bhatia or Harleen Deol at No. 3. They are expected to stick with the formula that’s worked for them in recent Tests, with a three-pronged spin attack of Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma and N Shree Charani likely to shoulder the bulk of the workload.

India (probable): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Yastika Bhatia/Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Sayali Satghare, 10 Shree Charani 11 Kranti Gaud

Pitch and conditions

The pitch wore a slightly dry-ish look on the eve of the Test. It is expected to be very hot over the next four days of the Test, with temperatures expected to peak at around 32 degrees Celcius.

Stats and trivia

India have not lost a Test match in England to date, having won two of the nine matches, while another seven ended in a draw. England have beaten India only once in a Test match, out of 15 meetings, while India have won three times. England’s lone win came in 1995 by two runs. Since then, both teams have met ten times in the format.
Lord’s Test will be Smriti Mandhana’s 300th international match for India. She is currently the third-highest run-getter in women’s internationals and has the joint-most hundreds (17) alongside Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt.
Sophie Ecclestone (335) is one wicket away from becoming the standalone leading wicket-taker for England in women’s internationals, going past Katherine Sciver-Brunt (335). Ecclestone moves to third among leading wicket-takers in women’s internationals if she takes two more wickets, going past Ellyse Perry (336) and will be only behind Deepti Sharma (356*) and Jhulan Goswami (355).
Jemimah Rodrigues has scored a fifty in each of the four Test matches she has played so far. Denise Emerson and Deepti are the only other women with a fifty-plus score in each of their first four Tests. No woman has a fifty-plus score in each of their first five Tests.

Quotes

“The basics of the game don’t change, whatever format you’re playing in. It might just be the mental battles you might have with yourself throughout the game. There’s a lot of resilience that needs to be shown during a Test match and ride the waves of energy that you’ll have, but some proper determination will go into every day that we’ll be playing.”
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt

“It just boggles my mind that it’s just the first Test match here at Lord’s. Having said that, we are really fortunate and I would like to extend my wishes to everyone involved in this. It’s a great occasion, and we’re looking forward to it.”
India head coach Amol Muzumdar

Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at Cricinfo

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