Earlier on Monday, Harmanpreet Kaur's side pulled off a landmark triumph in the first-ever women\u2019s Test held at Lord's after bundling out England for 186. Wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia struck 113, becoming the first woman to score a century in a Test at Lord's, while Kranti Gaud's five-wicket haul earned her a place on the historic honours board.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Off-spin bowling all-rounder Sneh Rana then wrapped up the contest with a four-wicket haul in the second innings, as India sealed their second-highest Test win by runs and, overall, their fourth-biggest Test victory.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I think definitely watching them play such good cricket - it was really inspiring to see them win, and especially coming right after the T20 games. It is pretty difficult to adapt to Test matches, especially in India, as we do not play a lot of red-ball cricket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo I think the way they went over there and handled the situation and played according to the situation and got that century and five-for, I think it was really inspiring for us as young cricketers to watch that and see how the Indian women's team were able to achieve that historical win. So it was really inspiring,\" Niki, a JSW Sports-supported athlete, told IANS in an exclusive conversation on Friday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Niki recently featured for the India A women's team on their tour of England, where they won the 50-over series 2-1. The right-handed batter also spoke about the increasing emphasis on red-ball preparedness at the domestic level via the revival of inter-zonal multi-day tournaments and specialised camps at the BCCI CoE in Bengaluru.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I think here in India, we're slowly starting to get a lot of red-ball tournaments. I think they had added one to the domestic circuit - the senior multi-days. Even when there are camps happening at CoE, they also prepare us to be able to play red-ball cricket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think that preparation has started slowly, and we've already seen the result of that -- India winning at Lord's. So I think in the future, in the next couple of years, we are just going to keep getting better in all the formats, not just one,\" she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Looking ahead, Niki revealed that a month-long targeted camp at the CoE, starting in August, along with a busy India A calendar, will keep her occupied for the next six months. \"Definitely -- like, there are a lot of tournaments that are coming up for India A. Also, we have this targeted camp next month, which is starting in August.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think that preparation has started slowly, and we've already seen the result of that -- India winning at Lord's. So I think in the future, in the next couple of years, we are just going to keep getting better in all the formats, not just one,\" she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
--IANS<\/p>\r\n\r\n