India women's cricket team returns after year-long break to face South Africa

India's women's cricket team was stepping back onto the field after 364 days away from international competition. The five-match One Day International series against South Africa, beginning Sunday in Lucknow, marked their return to action since the T20 World Cup final in March 2020—a year-long absence that had left them scrambling to prepare for the delayed ODI World Cup in New Zealand.

The timing was awkward and the stakes were high. While India had dominated South Africa historically, winning 14 of their 22 head-to-head contests, the visitors arrived match-sharp. The Proteas had just completed a tour of Pakistan, dropping only one match across both ODI and T20I series. India, by contrast, had managed only a few days of net practice, hampered by quarantine protocols and the late announcement of the series details. The gap in preparation was visible: England, New Zealand, and Australia had all played regularly over the past year, building rhythm and combinations while India stood still.

Mithali Raj, the 38-year-old ODI captain, framed the series as essential groundwork for the World Cup campaign. Speaking at a virtual media conference on Saturday, she acknowledged the dual purpose ahead: testing new squad combinations with young players while giving core players the chance to shake off rust and rebuild momentum. The selection committee under Neetu David had made significant changes, bringing in batter Yastika Bhatia, wicketkeeper Swetha Verma, spinner C Prathyusha, and pacer Monica Patel. But they had also left out familiar names—pacer Shikha Pandey, Veda Krishnamurthy, Ekta Bisht, and wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia—moves that suggested the team was still searching for answers in the middle order and pace department.

One notable absence was teen batting sensation Shafali Verma, excluded from the ODI squad. Raj moved quickly to clarify that this was not a signal of lost confidence. "She is definitely in the scheme of things," the captain said, suggesting the young player would get her chance soon. The management intended to give the four newcomers meaningful game time across the five matches, using the series as a laboratory for squad construction.

Raj herself had been out of international cricket for over 400 days. Her last match was an away series against West Indies in November 2019, a series India had won 2-1. She spoke of carrying that form forward, but also of the mental work required to return after such a long break. "A lot has gone into the mental setup because clearly we are coming back from a long gap," she said. She had trained at home and in academy sessions, but match readiness was something only the field could test. Some younger players like Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma had played in club tournaments during the layoff, but the team dynamic as a whole remained untested.

South Africa would be without their regular captain Dane van Niekerk and all-rounder Chloe Tyron, with Sune Luus taking the leadership role. Still, the visitors carried the advantage of recent match play. India's preparation had been constrained not just by the pandemic but by the delayed announcement of the series itself, leaving little time for the team to gel before facing a side that had momentum on their side.

Raj pushed back against the notion that the long break would leave the team rusty. "The girls clearly are quite excited to get on the field and start putting our best performances," she said. The Ekana Stadium in Lucknow would host the series with limited capacity—10 percent of the venue's seats filled—and Raj expressed hope that the matches would become a revenue source for women's cricket in India. The World Cup quest was beginning, finally, but it was beginning from behind.