Australia are set to tour India in late December for a multi-format women’s series comprising a Test, three ODIs and three T20Is.
The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will play host to the one-off women’s Test and three ODIs while the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai will be host for the T20Is. The ODIs will not be part of the ICC Women’s Championship.
This is after England finish their tour of India starting with three T20Is in Mumbai followed by a Test in Navi Mumbai. All T20Is – against England as well as Australia – are night fixtures starting 7pm IST while the ODIs are day-night matches starting at 1.30pm IST.
Both the Test matches are day games with a 9.30am IST start. During the home ODI series against West Indies earlier this month, Australia trained with pink balls in anticipation of a day-night Test match against India.
Both the Tests are four-day fixtures, as has been the norm in the women’s game. In a departure from that, the women’s Ashes saw a five-day one-off Test match at Trent Bridge, which was only the second such game in women’s cricket.
The red-ball fixture against England will be the first women’s Test in India since 2014, when the hosts beat South Africa. Since then, India have played two women’s Tests – one each against England and Australia – the latter being a pink-ball affair – in 2021. Both matches were thrilling draws.
Since Australia’s tour of India late last year, all of India’s home cricket has been played in and around Mumbai. While the five-match T20I series last year was held at DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium, the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) earlier this year was also played across the two stadiums in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai.
The twin series against the women’s Ashes rivals will be India’s first under new head coach Amol Muzumdar.
Apart from the international series, three T20 games are also set to be played at the Wankhede Stadium between India A and England A from November 29 to December 3. All those games are afternoon fixtures with 1.30pm IST starts.
