Harmanpreet Kaur hopes Lord’s Test can heal the wounds of the Women’s T20 World Cup
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes the one-off Test against England at Lord’s offers her side the perfect opportunity to shake off the disappointment of the Women’s World T20 and rediscover its rhythm in the longest format.
India endured a a tough campaign at the T20 World Cup in Englandfell short of expectations despite arriving at the tournament as one of the favorites. The setback left Harmanpreet’s side searching for answers, but the prospect of taking part in the first ever women’s Test at Lord’s has infused the team with renewed enthusiasm.
“It was a very tough moment for all of us as we prepared really hard for the World Cup but unfortunately we didn’t give our best. This Test match really fired us up. We all came together as a group and wanted to give our best for this match,” Harmanpreet said at the pre-match press conference.
“Right now everyone looks in a good space and hopefully we’ll enjoy our cricket.”
This event has a huge significance for India as well. Lord’s, which has hosted 150 men’s Tests since 1884, is hosting a women’s test for the first time50 years after it welcomed its first women’s interstate match.
India will also draw confidence from their recent performances in red-ball cricket. Under Harmanpreet Kaur, India set up a historic victory over Australia in Mumbai in 2023 before crushing South Africa by 10 wickets in Chennai in 2024 after posting 603 for six in 2024, the highest total in the history of women’s Test cricket.
‘WE DEFINITELY WANT TO PLAY MORE TEST CRICKET’
While the Lord’s clash created excitement among the players, Harmanpreet reiterated that women cricketers want more opportunities in the traditional format.
“As a female cricketer, we definitely want to play a lot of Test matches. But I think it’s entirely a mission from the higher authorities. I’ve seen all the highs and lows so far and I’ve seen women’s cricket grow over the years. I think we’re in the right hands and they’re the right ones to take the call,” she said.
The India captain added that the game is moving in the right direction and women’s cricket is gradually adopting longer formats. Harmanpreet described playing a Test at Lord’s as a dream come true and admitted she was surprised to learn the venue had never hosted a women’s Test before.
“But if you ask me as a player, I definitely want to play a lot of cricket and I don’t want to sit at home and do nothing. We’re enjoying our time, we’re quite busy and we’re getting opportunities in between.”
“We also played one Test last March and now we will have one more Test tomorrow. I think things are going in the right direction and hopefully we will see many more Test matches in the future,” added Harmanpreet.
India have suffered a difficult run of results in recent months. After a 5-0 series in Sri Lanka at home and a 2-1 triumph in Australia, Harmanpreet Kaur’s side lost 1-4 to South Africa before suffering a 2-1 T20I series defeat to England and falling short of the World Cup. India will now hope to shake off those disappointments with a strong showing at Lord’s.
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
10 Jul 2026 12:26 IST