Starting from Sunday, hosts will play Australia in a three-match ODI series ahead of 2025 Women’s ODI World CupCHANDIGARH: Keyed up to end their quest for that elusive ICC trophy when the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup which begins from Sept 30 in Guwahati, the Indian women’s team will undergo a final dress rehearsal before the mega event when it takes on World Champions Australia in a three-match ODI series which starts here at the 38,000-capacity PCA Mullanpur Stadium in New Chandigarh from Sunday. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!On Friday, the Indian women’s team head coach Amol Muzumdar had said the series against Australia, which will involve matches on Sept 14, 17 & 20 (in Delhi) will be a “real trailblazer” for the home side going into the women’s World Cup. The series also offers a rare chance for India women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who hails from Moga in Punjab, to play in front of her home crowd. The first match, a day/nighter, incidentally clashes with the high-profile India versus Pakistan game in Dubai in the men’s Asia Cup.
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India are, of course, flying high after having come off a successful tour of England, that saw them beat the hosts in both the ODI and T20I series for the first time ever, but a contest against the world’s most dominant women’s cricket team by far will give them an idea of where exactly they stand in terms of preparations for the World Cup. “I think this is a real trailblazer for the World Cup. This is a very important series for us, and we are looking forward to the series, playing against one of the top teams in the world. We had a lovely tour to England; we had positive results which we wanted, and we are looking forward to the series. In England we had the results, 2-1 in ODIs and we won the T20 series, first ever result in England as far as T20 is concerned. It was a fantastic 40-day tour. We gelled really well; it was a great team effort. Smriti (Mandhana) got a hundred in Trent Bridge and Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur) got a hundred in Durham,” Muzumdar had said“Everyone contributed and that was the takeaway from the series. Radhya Yadav played a key role, Kranti Goud also contributed. All the boxes were ticked,” said Muzumdar, for whom the next couple of months present the biggest challenge of his coaching career.India will have to be at their very best to beat a team like Australia, which beat them 3-0 in a home ODI series last year, and Muzumdar recognizes that change. “Australia has been a dominant force for many years. But we give much importance to our preparation. We are looking forward to playing the Australians, who are probably one of the best sides in the world. It is not that we have not beaten them in the past. Some 16-18 months, we won a Test match against them then a T20 game, both in Mumbai. But they have been a consistent side for sure and we have to make a huge collective effort to finish on the correct side in the end,” he said.After the England tour, a 10-day camp was organised at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, followed by another 10-day camp in Vizag where India are going to play two of their World Cup matches. During the camp in Vizag, India suffered a big blow when ‘keeper-bat Yastika Bhatia hurt her knee and was ruled out of the Australia series and the World Cup, and was replaced by Uma Chetry. However, the return of seasoned pacer Renuka Singh Thakur (35 wickets in 19 WODIs@22.02, with a best haul of five for 29, from injury which kept her out of the England tour will bolster the Indian attack. “She is an important member of the team. Leader of the pack as far as the fast bowling unit goes. She comes after a layoff but the good thing is she is looking good. We would like to use the series against Australia as a platform for the World Cup.” said Muzumdar.
