Sydney: The Indian Women’s cricket team touched down in Australia for the multi-format series, which will commence on February 15. India’s tour will include three T20 matches, three One-Day Internationals, and a historic one-off Test. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead India in all the formats, with Smriti Mandhana continuing as vice-captain.
In a video released by the BCCI Women on Monday, Indian cricketers were looking excited for the tour down under. Top-order batter Smriti talked about the celebrations after RCB won their second WPL title and how she is feeling coming back to national duty.
“Very hectic, I would say, but worth it. We had a lot of fun, but now back to national duty,” she said in a video released by BCCI on X.
India will play their first T20I match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on February 15, followed by the second T20I at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on February 19, and concluding with the third match at the Adelaide Oval on February 21.
The T20I series against Australia will be crucial preparation for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, scheduled to be held in June.
Following the T20Is, the focus will shift to the ODI series, beginning on February 24 at Allan Border Field in Brisbane. The teams will then travel to Hobart’s Bellerive Oval for the second and third ODIs, scheduled for February 27 and March 1, respectively.
This will be the first time the two teams will meet in the ODIs after India registered a five-wicket win against Australia in the Women’s World Cup 2025 semi-final in October last year. This will also be the last series of the Australia great Alyssa Healy, as she has announced that she will retire from all formats after the India campaign.
The tour will end with the prestigious one-off Test match, a four-day contest set to be played from March 6 to March 9 at the Perth Stadium.
(IANS)
