Australia suffer major blows as Ellyse Perry and Kim Garth have both been ruled out for the three ODIs against India, with the announcement coming moments before their first 50-over encounter on Tuesday.
Both teams made one change in the playing XI as India brought in Shreyanka Patil, replacing Kranti Gaud, and Grace Harris replaced Nicola Carey in the Australian playing XI.
Indian women's cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bowl first against the Sophie Molineux-led Australia Women in the second T20I of the three-match series, on Thursday at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.
India has had more experience playing T20Is recently, having swept Sri Lanka in a five-match series after their ODI World Cup win in late December last year, and many of its marquee players played a crucial role in the Women's Premier League (WPL). On the other hand, Australia have played on
The Australian women's team saw a change of guard as Sophie Molineux took over as the all-format captain from Alyssa Healy. Her first assignment as the new Australia captain will be a multi-format series against India at home, starting on February 15.
Australia batter Phoebe Litchfield said she continues to learn from the senior players in the team's leadership group and would embrace the captaincy "with both hands" if given the opportunity in the future.
In the upcoming season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026, franchises can retain a maximum of five players ahead of the mega auction, according to ESPNcricinfo. The deadline for announcing retentions has been set for November 5, which has been communicated to the teams. The auction win
Openers Pratika Rawal (75 in 96 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Mandhana (80 in 66 balls, with nine fours and three sixes) laid down the platform with an incredible 155-run stand for the opening wicket. However, India could not capitalise on it a lot as a five-wicket haul from Annabel Su
India, meanwhile, have their own selection dilemmas as they look to bounce back from their narrow loss to the Proteas, with left-arm spinner Radha Yadav and experienced seamer Renuka Singh all in line for a recall to boost the side's bowling stocks.
Schutt, the 32-year-old veteran with 140 ODI wickets, did not feature in the clash against White Ferns as the pace of a much younger, 22-year-old Darcie Brown was chosen.