Indian women’s cricket has come a long way. From being dubbed as underdogs to become the world champions in 2025, the Indian women have been on the rise in the last decade, especially after the Women in Blue’s runners-up finish in the 2017 ODI World Cup. Notably, India sit third in both ICC ODI and T20I Women’s Team Rankings currently.
Unlike ODIs and T20Is, India still lack behind in red-ball cricket, with Test matches here and there. In fact, after 2006, India played a women’s Test only in 2014. Then after 2014, the played red-ball cricket in 2021. In 2026, India so far have played two women’s Tests against Australia (lost at WACA) and England (won at Lord’s).
India’s association with women’s Tests dates back to 1975 when Australia toured India. The following year India went to New Zealand for a five-match series. However, both the series were deemed unofficial. India’s first-ever official women’s Test match took place in 1976 at the KSCA Stadium (now M ) in Bengaluru on October 31, exactly 50 years ago on this day, when West Indies travelled for a six-Test series.
West Indies were led by Louise Browne took on Shantha Rangaswamy’s India. It must be noted that women’s Test back then used to be a three-day affair. It made a transition from a three-day format to a four-day affair in 1985, which is being followed till present.
Batting first, West Indies scored 274 in the first innings, riding on a half-century from Gloria Gill (53) and knocks from Yolande Geddes-Hall (44) and Leila Williams (43). For India, Shubhangi Kulkarni picked up a five wickets for only 48 runs while scalped two.
In reply, India declared at 269/6, with opener Shobha Pandit (69) and Rangaswamy (74) playing memorable knocks that kept the 22000-odd crowd engaged. Another landmark moment in the match came when Rangaswamy launched Whittaker for a six over long-on – first maximum hit by an Indian women’s cricketer at the international stage.
In fact, the stand where the ball landed, has been since named as the Shantha Rangaswamy stand. With five-run lead, West Indies declared their second innings at 175/7, thus giving India a 181-run target in the fourth innings. India were 30/1 in the second innings, when the stumps were draws, thus forcing the game into a drawn encounter.
Since that game, India have played 42 Tests in the last five decades, winning a total of nine matches, lost seven and drew on 27 occasions. In that Test series between India and West Indies in 1976, four games ended in drawn encounters. The series ended at 1-1 with India winning the fourth game in Patna by five wickets. West Indies secured an innings victory in the final game of the series to save the blushes.
