England captain Heather Knight has set her side鈥檚 aims on making history by becoming the first England Women鈥檚 side to win a bilateral ODI series in India.
Knight and her team will go up against Mithali Raj鈥檚 India in three ODIs, starting this Friday, at the beginning of a sub-continent tour that also sees three IT20s against India and a series in Sri Lanka.
It kicks off a year in which England will also host the West Indies and Australia in the Women鈥檚 Ashes, before attentions turn to the 2020 ICC Women鈥檚 T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia in February of next year.
鈥淲e're really excited," said Knight. "It鈥檚 a massive year for us, obviously starting with this tour. India is such a fantastic place to come to - it鈥檚 a place where they really worship cricket and it鈥檚 a real challenge as a foreign cricketer to come here and try to win."
Knight and her England teammates were in the same country less than a year ago 鈥� and the Western Storm all-rounder is hopeful that the lessons of that tour can be beneficial this time round.
鈥淲e took quite a young side out here a year ago, to try and give some more of our players an opportunity. It wasn鈥檛 for ICC Women鈥檚 Championship points whereas it is this year.
鈥淲e played all of the ODIs in Nagpur and it was hard work. The pitches were very dry and what you would expect of pitches in the sub-continent. We learned a lot as a playing group, batters and bowlers, about how to play in those conditions and while we had some success we weren鈥檛 able to win the series.
鈥淭his tour is slightly different. We鈥檙e playing our three ODIs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and the conditions towards the end of the series could well be similar to those we experienced in Nagpur.
鈥淭he early starts [games start at 9am IST] will also add another dimension, with the possibility of the dew factor coming into play early on in the game.鈥�
England were indebted to Knight for getting across the line in their final warm-up game but it was also a game that that saw a number of other players impress, especially with the ball. Knight believes it鈥檚 a huge positive that there are a number of players vying for selection.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a big squad now from which to pick. We鈥檝e got lots of players pushing each other on to keep performing and keep improving. That鈥檚 brilliant from the team鈥檚 perspective and from my perspective, to have that competition for places.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a long tour, we鈥檝e obviously got the Sri Lanka series immediately after, so I think it will be a squad effort over the next six weeks. It鈥檚 a real opportunity to push forward in ODI cricket and continue what鈥檚 been a really good couple of years for us.鈥�
The squad has been bolstered by the return of Katherine Brunt and Sarah Taylor, and for Knight that will be hugely beneficial on and off the field.
鈥淚t鈥檚 brilliant to have them back. They鈥檝e got a hell of a lot of experience. This is Brunty鈥檚 sixth or seventh trip to India so she鈥檚 got a lot of expertise to pass on, and it鈥檚 the same for Sarah.
鈥淭hey both bring so much to the group, on and off the field. Brunty with her experience and Sarah鈥檚 a really fun and bubbly presence. They鈥檙e great for the group and hopefully that will help us as we try to win the series.鈥�