Fifty years ago on this day, a Shantha Rangaswamy-led Indian team set foot on the KSCA Stadium (later called Chinnaswamy Stadium) turf to figure in the country’s inaugural women’s Test match.

Their opponents: The West Indies, led by Louise Browne. The men’s cricketers from her region were at the same ground in 1974 to open the epic 1974-75 Test series.  By October of 1976, Clive Lloyd’s West Indies had conquered India on their home turf and England in the UK too. Bar Australia, there was no better team than them. The Indian women’s team knew this and expected a tough six-match series, the first of which was drawn in Bangalore. “We expected them to be strong in the pace bowling department,” said Shubhangi Kulkarni, who, like her 10 teammates, was making her Test debut; the difference being that she was just 17.