Australia win toss, opt to bat as India hand Richa Ghosh her Test debut

Mumbai, Dec 21 (IANS) Australia Women skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and elected to bat first against India Women in the only Test of the multi-format series at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.

Both India and Australia handed debut Test caps to a player each.

India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana handed first Test cap to wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh, who could also bowl medium pace. Richa is the 94th player to play Tests for India.

Richa came in for the injured Shubha Satheesh, who had suffered a fracture and dislocation in her hand on the second day of the only Test against England at the DY Patil Stadium, which India won by 347 runs within three days..

Australia, on the other hand, handed Test debut to left-arm pacer Lauren Cheatle. She came in for Darcie Brown, who is sitting out this match.

Playing XIs:

India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh

Australia Women: Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Annabel Sutherland, Ash Gardner, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Kim Garth, Lauren Cheatle.