Australia captain Healy quashes talks of Harmanpreet rivalry, seeks more India vs Australia women’s Test matches

India defeated Australia for the first time in a Test match and after an ‘enjoyable experience’ over the last four days in Mumbai, Healy was open to the idea of having more bilateral Test matches.

Healy made it clear that there was no rivalry of sorts with Harmanpreet and that the heated exchange was part of competitive cricket at that moment. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur had a heated exchange with her Australian counterpart on Saturday after the latter deflected a throw from Harmanpreet, who was bowling at that time, resulting in the ball racing to the ropes.

The Indian camp appealed against Healy for obstructing the field which was rejected by on-field umpires.

Though tempers flew around that point in time, things eased out as the game progressed. In fact, soon after India pulled off an eight-wicket win on Sunday afternoon, Healy was seen clicking pictures of the home side.

The skipper made it clear that there was no rivalry of sorts with Harmanpreet.

“Oh, I don’t necessarily think there is a rivalry. I think that we’re just two cricketers going at it. That’s the way that I’d sum it up. She’s obviously a passionate cricketer, so am I. And that’s what happens when Australia plays India,” Healy said, before adding with a smile, “It’s a good, hard contest and yesterday was just probably an example of that…”

At the Wankhede Stadium, India defeated Australia for the first time in a Test match and after an ‘enjoyable experience’ over the last four days, Healy was open to the idea of having more bilateral Test matches.

“That’s up to the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and probably Cricket Australia as well to decide whether that’s on the cards or not. Standing there in the press conference when I was asked that question, I thought, ‘Yep, imagine playing two more of these.’ I think that would be an unbelievable experience for our group and probably a true test of both sides’ abilities,” Healy said.

“The one-off Test match India played in their home conditions you’d expect them to be heavy favourites, but the way we tried to adapt and continue to learn throughout the four days was really impressive.

“So yeah, we would love to see more and more and I think it would create a real contest over three games. But the nature of the female game at the moment is it’s very white-ball dominant and trying to fit red-ball in the calendar and fit all the white-ball games in particular seems to be taking precedence.

“You take three one-day games out and we could probably play two more Test matches. I would have thought cool,” she added.