Australia women set to tour India for 5 T20Is in December

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced the schedule for the upcoming senior women’s Australia tour of India. India is set to play 5 T20Is in the month of December in Mumbai.

The first T20I will take place on 9th of December at DY Patil Stadium while the second match will take place at same venue on 11th of December. The final T20I of the series is set to take place at CCI on 20th of December.

Indian Women's team won the 2022 Women's T20 Asia Cup with a dominating win against Sri Lanka in the final last month. They are also scheduled to travel to South Africa for a T20I Tri-Series involving West Indies starting from January 19, 2023. South Africa also hosts the 2023 T20 World Cup in February so the Tri-Series will be beneficial for India's preparation.

Indian cricketers definitely need more game time and facing a tough opponent like Australia will be hugely beneficial. Australia beat India in the last edition of the T20 World Cup final by 85 runs and have been dominating world cricket across formats since then. That was the first time India had reached the final of the tournament but proved too weak against a strong all-round Australian team.

India also lost the final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and had to settle for a Silver medal. So playing against them will allow India to test their strengths and weaknesses before traveling to South Africa for the mega tournament.

Star batter Jemimah Rodrigues and all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar are currently playing in the Women's Big Bash League 2022. But both the players have struggled to make any impact in the tournament so far. But the rest of the members from the current Indian team surely need more competitive game-time and five T20Is against Australia will provide that.