Home is where the heart is

Ahead of India's first home Test in nine years, former & current players recall past wins, what it means to play red-ball cricket in the country & more...

- KALYANI MANGALE

WHEN we won that Test match in Patna, we were scared to come out of the ground because people were celebrating outside,” Nilima Joglekar, the former Indian captain remembers. “So then we waved them from the bus and then only the crowd dispersed.” That’s how people celebrated the first-ever home Test series the Indian women’s team played. Since the end of that series on 27 November 1976, India has played only 16 Tests on home soil, with only four coming after chance of the millennium.

However, those 16 Tests have given so much joy to those who were part of it. Shantha Rangaswamy, the trailblazer of women’s cricket in India, recalls how her team played in front of a packed house back in the day. “In our days, we played a very few ODIs. The Test match was the main fixture for us. And we played in front of thousands of people. All those spectators purchased tickets and came (to watch us play). The popularity was at its peak,” she remembers fondly. Joglekar, who later led the side that included the likes of Shubhagi Kulkarni, Diana Edulji, and Sandhya Agarwal in Ahmedabad against New Zealand, while looking back on those Tests recalls wearing the captain’s blazer for the toss. “When I went for the toss wearing the blazer, it was a surreal experience. There was an immense amount of pressure, but at the same time, I was excited for it. New Zealand captain (Debbie Hockley) asked me if I was nervous. ‘Not at all,’ I replied,” she laughs.