The Cricketer provides all the information you need ahead of the seven-match, multi-format series between Australia and India
A multi-format series between Australia and India. The series, which is scheduled to run from September 21 to October 10, will consist of three ODIs, a day/night Test match – India’s first pink-ball Test, and three T20s.
1st ODI: Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (Tuesday, September 21 – 10:05am local time, 01:05am BST, 5:35am IST)
2nd ODI: Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (Friday, September 24 – 3:10pm local time, 06:10am BST, 10:40 IST)
3rd ODI: Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (Sunday, September 26 – 10:05am local time, 01:05am BST, 5:35am IST)
Test match: Carrara Oval, Gold Coast (Thursday, September 30 - Sunday, October 3 – 4pm local time, 5:30am BST, 10am IST)
1st T20: Carrara Oval, Gold Coast (Thursday, October 7 – 6:40pm local time, 9:40am BST, 2:10pm IST)
2nd T20: Carrara Oval, Gold Coast (Saturday, October 9 – 6:10pm local time, 9:10am BST, 1:40pm IST)
3rd T20: Carrara Oval, Gold Coast (Sunday, October 10 – 6:10pm local time, 9:10am BST, 1:40pm IST)
Meg Lanning and Mithali Raj will captain Australia and India, respectively, in their first Test meeting since 2006
Tuesday’s ODI in Mackay will mark the first meeting between Australia and India in any format since the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup final in Melbourne, which Australia won by 85 runs.
The two sides haven’t met in an ODI series since March 2018 when Australia completed a resounding 3-0 victory in India.
The last Test match between the two sides was back in February 2006 when the two sides met in Adelaide. Australia won by an innings and four runs, with Lisa Sthalekar (72 & 5 for 30) picking up player of the match honours and a 23-year-old Mithali Raj making her sixth Test appearance.
Australia and India did contest a 50-over warm-up match in Brisbane on September 18, with the home side triumphing by 36 runs.
As the defending T20 world champions and number one-ranked side in both white-ball formats, Australia are the favourites to win this series.
Meg Lanning’s side haven’t been defeated in an ODI since October 29, 2017, when England beat them by 20 runs in the Ashes, while their record on home soil stands at 102 wins from 125 matches. Australia have played India 46 times in ODIs, winning 37. In T20s, Australia also have a strong record with 94 wins from 144 matches, 14 of which have come in 20 matches against India.
However, since the end of March 2020, Australia have played just 11 matches, most recently an ODI against New Zealand on April 10, 2021. And while their record in ODIs over this period has been flawless, in T20s, the reigning world champions have lost two of their past five matches.
The Test match in Carrara will be Australia’s first Test since July 2019, when they faced England at Taunton, and their first in Australia since November 2017 – a draw with England in Sydney. However, the Aussies do have a favourable record in the game’s longest format. On home soil, they have won 12, drawn 17 and lost just six of their 35 Tests while against India, they are unbeaten, winning four (all on home soil) of their nine encounters to date.
Australia will be missing several players against India, with spinner Jess Jonassen injured and Megan Schutt and Belinda Vakarewa absent for personal reasons. Tayla Vlaeminck will miss the ODIs and Test match through injury.
Fortunately, Australia have no shortage of talent with Alyssa Healy, Meg Lanning (both ODI/T20I batting), Ellyse Perry (ODI bowling and allrounder; T20 allrounder), Ashleigh Gardner (ODI allrounder), Beth Mooney (T20I batting), and Georgia Wareham (T20I bowling) all featuring in the top 10 of the ICC’s player rankings.
However, perhaps the most exciting player in Australia’s ranks is uncapped 19-year-old pacer Hannah Darlinton, who took 19 wickets and recorded an economy of 6.19 in the 2020 WBBL. Georgia Redmayne and Stella Campbell are both included in an Australia squad for the first time.
Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes, Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
Teenage pacer Hannah Darlington
India are ranked fourth in the ICC’s ODI rankings and third in the T20I standings. Unlike their hosts who have played just five matches since the beginning of 2021, India have played 14 matches in all formats this year, hosting South Africa in March before travelling to England in June and July.
Unfortunately for India, who finished as runners-up in both the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup and 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup, their form against the latter wasn’t great. Drawing the Test match in Bristol to get their tour off to a bright start, India lost the ODI series 2-1 before losing the T20I series by the same margin. In their past 10 ODIs, India have won four and lost six; since 2020, they have completed 16 T20Is, winning eight.
However, two factors should give the visiting side hope. Firstly, they have played five T20Is against Australia since the start of 2020, winning two and losing three, suggesting the gulf between the two sides isn’t as great as it appears on paper.
Secondly, five members of India’s touring party took part in The Hundred (Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma) compared to just one Australian (Georgia Redmayne). Rodrigues, in particular, impressed in the tournament, scoring 249 runs at a strike rate of 150.9, while Mandhana scored 167 runs, including two half-centuries. And while the other three had mixed tournaments, they all got valuable match time under their belts.
The only team news for India ahead of the first ODI is the confirmed absence of Kaur who has a thumb injury.
India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (C), Harmanpreet Kaur, Taniya Bhatia, Yastika Bhatia, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Richa Ghosh, Jhulan Goswami, Smriti Mandhana, Shikha Pandey, Sneh Rana, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav
India T20 squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Richa Ghosh, Smriti Mandhana, Shikha Pandey, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav
Jemimah Rodrigues impressed for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred
Viewers in India can watch every match on Sony SIX while in Australia, the series will be available on Channel 7, Fox Cricket and Kayo.
BT Sport have the rights to the series in the UK.
Looking at the long-range forecast for the next fortnight, the three ODIs and standalone Test match should all be completed without interruption.
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