They might have been dethroned as World Champions in both T20Is and ODIs, but there is little doubt that Australia remain the gold standard in women’s cricket. And India, who did the dethroning from the 50-over format in Navi Mumbai on that famous October night not so long ago, should know that better than anyone. Harmanpreet Kaur’s side has fallen at the Australian hurdle enough times in the past. But what that record run-chase in the semifinal, led by Jemimah Rodrigues, and the subsequent ascendancy of India as World Champions should instil is the belief that they can challenge the world’s best more consistently. That is what they’d hope to showcase over the next three weeks Down Under in the multi-format series, starting with the first of three T20Is at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. With points at stake in each of the matches across all three formats – two points each for a win in T20Is and ODIs and four points at stake in the one-off Pink-ball Test in Perth – every game assumes importance, but the bigger picture for both sides would be the T20Is that kickstart the tour. Across Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide, India would be hoping to fine-tune their T20 World Cup preparations while Australia would kick off the post-Alyssa Healy era under Sophie Molineux’s leadership. “Being a world champion always gives you lots of confidence, but every time when you step to the ground you have to start from ball one. It’s a different ball game now and we are really looking forward to that. T20 is something we, as a team, really enjoy playing and playing against Australia is always fun,” Harmanpreet said. Recreating aura For Molineux, the biggest challenge is to recreate the aura around Australia that has somewhat slipped across the last two major events. But the incredible talent at her disposal should make her job easier. “There is so much experience and skill in this team, and the girls are really driven to succeed for Australia, so it’s just bringing it all together (as captain),” Molineux said. India haven’t made wholesale changes recently either – but the return of Shreyanka Patil will boost them – and most of the core ground were in good form at the recent WPL, the captain included. “We are really working hard to achieve all our targets. Winning the (ODI) World Cup was one of them, so we are on the right track. Hopefully we’ll keep bringing our best whenever we play. We know Australia are very strong, they’ve been playing really good cricket for such a long time. One thing is very clear, whenever you go with a great mindset and a good, positive approach, you can always bring your best,” Harmanpreet said. T20I series schedule: Feb 15, Sydney Cricket Ground, 1.45 pm IST Feb 19: Manuka Oval, Canberra, 1.45 pm IST Feb 21: Adelaide Oval, 1.45 pm IST AUS vs IND T20I Squads Australia: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham.Story continues below this ad India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil.
Why the multi-format tour of Australia is the real test for Harmanpreet Kaur’s India
