BRISBANE: Having secured a stunning T20I series triumph, reigning world champion India will have the psychological edge when it takes on Australia in the first women’s ODI of a three-match series here on Tuesday.
India had beaten Australia in the World Cup semifinal last year in Navi Mumbai and the host would be looking to avenge that stunning defeat. What makes the series even more significant is the fact that one of Australia’s greatest players, Alyssa Healy, will be making her swansong ODI appearance in this rubber. She will be ending her illustrious career after the one-off Test against India starting on March 6 in Perth.
Healy will return to lead Australia after missing the three-match T20I series which India clinched 2-1 after winning the decider by 17 runs in Adelaide on Saturday. It was Australia’s first bilateral series defeat since 2017. Star leg-spinner Alana King is also coming to the ODI and Test sides after being overlooked for the T20 series.
For India, Kashvee Gautam, Harleen Deol and Pratika Rawal will come in to replace of Arundhati Reddy, Bharti Fulmali, and Shreyanka
Patil. Having recuperated from an ankle injury, batter Rawal was added late to the ODI squad.
Star opener Smriti Mandhana is expected continue to be India’s batting mainstay after her match-winning 82 in the third T20I.
“Beating Australia in Australia is something really special. We will move on to the ODI series. We are on the verge of a transition where we want to dominate world cricket.
“And whoever we beat, wherever we beat, that doesn’t matter. We just want to be consistent in beating them and being at the top,” Mandhana had said. Jemimah Rodrigues, who made a stunning 127 in
India’s five-wicket win over Australia in the ODI World Cup, will be another batter to watch out for. She contributed 59 and shared a 121-run partnership with Mandhana in the third T20I win. India will also be banking on captain Harmanpreet Kaur to lend muscle to batting. She did not get a chance to bat in the first T20I, made 36 in the second and 2 not out in the third.
In the bowling department, Renuka Thakur and Sree Charani will go into the ODI series after being among the wickets in the T20I matches while veteran Deepti Sharma would look to come good after a mediocre show in the shortest fortmat.