"The challenge for us is that we haven't played with the red ball" - Harmanpreet Kaur on India's upcoming Test assignments

Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur is currently playing in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) Down Under, but will be leading her national team in a Test against each of England and Australia in Mumbai in December.

Interestingly, this would be the first home Test that Harmanpreet Kaur would play since 2014 where she faced South Africa. That's the only home Test that Harmanpreet has played in the three games that she has represented India in the format.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Harmanpreet Kaur opened up about the struggles she and others in the team could face as they aren't regularly playing red-ball cricket. She said:

"The Test series is something which we are really looking forward to because I haven't played in front of a home crowd [since 2014], so I'm really excited for that. The challenge for us is that we haven't played with the red ball.

"We have been playing with the white ball for so many years, even in domestic cricket also we don't have red-ball cricket back home. So the challenge for us is to make yourself ready in such a short time."

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Harmanpreet Kaur on preparation for Tests

Harmanpreet even admitted that she had plans of trying to get some red-ball practice Down Under. However, she accepted that the tight scheduling of the WBBL games coupled with the travelling was going to make it difficult.

On this, she stated:

"I had that thought if I can simultaneously do some red-ball practice also, but because it's such a packed schedule you can't mix things. We're playing T20 cricket, and the Test game is a totally different kind of game, so I didn't want to mix it. When I'm going back, I have 10 days to prepare myself."

With both England and Australia being a force in women's cricket, India will need to be at their best even if they're playing at home.

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