Toss England Women opt to bat against India Women
The Indian quintet of Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar and Taniya Bhatia, and England batter Sophia Dunkley all made their debuts as England elected to bat at the Bristol County Ground in the one-of Test against India, who are playing their first Test in nearly seven years.
Dunkley, 22, made the XI on the back of an impressive run for the South East Stars at the recent domestic 50-over competition for the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy. Emily Arlott, another breakthrough performer from that tournament, didn't make the cut as Heather Knight, playing her 100th match as England captain, opted for the pace of Kate Cross instead.
Verma, 17, was previously capped only in T20Is, whereas Rana, 27, returned to an Indian XI after 2016. She was picked for all three formats of the England tour following her performance in the domestic 50-over tournament earlier this year, where she topped the wicket-takers' chart for the Mithali Raj-led Railways with 18 strikes at an average of 12.66, while scoring 160 runs at a strike rate of 123.07 from the middle order.
India picked three quicks in their line-up, with veteran Jhulan Goswami leading the attack and Shikha Pandey, dropped for the eight-match limited-overs assignment against South Africa at home in March, and Pooja Vastrakar in support roles. India opted for Rana, Sharma and part-timer Harmanpreet Kaur, the vice-captain, to shoulder the spin-bowling responsibilities. Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht and wristspinner Poonam Yadav sat out.
England: 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Lauren Winfield-Hill, 3 Heather Knight (capt), 4 Nat Sciver, 5 Amy Jones (wk), 6 Sophia Dunkley, 7 Georgia Elwiss, 8 Katherine Brunt, 9 Anya Shrubsole, 10 Sophie Ecclestone, 11 Kate Cross
India: 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Punam Raut, 4 Mithali Raj (capt), 5 Harmanpreet Kaur, 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Sneh Rana, 8 Taniya Bhatia (wk), 9 Jhulan Goswami, 10 Pooja Vastrakar, 11 Shikha Pandey
Shafali Verma
Sneh Rana
Deepti Sharma
Pooja Vastrakar
Taniya Bhatia
Sophia Dunkley
England Women
India Women
ENG Women vs IND Women
India Women tour of England
Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @ghosh_annesha
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