BCCI announces schedule for Australian women's team tour of India

MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the schedule for the upcoming senior women's Australia tour of India.

The board announced on Friday that India is set to play 5 T20Is in the month of December in Mumbai.

The first two T20Is will take place on December 9 and 11 at DY Patil Stadium. The next three T20Is will take place at Brabourne Stadium on December 14, 17, and 20.

For Australia, this could be the first series where they will be missing their regular skipper Meg Lanning, who had announced an indefinite break from the sport just after their Commonwealth Games gold medal win back in August. India and Australia had met in the final.

Australia currently do not have a captain as Rachael Haynes announced her retirement. Alyssa Healy, the current vice-captain could take over the post for this tour.

The Aussies will be heading to the series after the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), which will end on November 26. Some Indian players like Pooja Vastrakar and Jemimah Rodrigues featured in the league, but star batters Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur chose to skip the event to manage their workload.

This series will also mark India's return to international cricket after winning the Asia Cup title in October. They will be facing South Africa in the second half of January for a tri-nation series featuring West Indies, leading up to T20 World Cup, which will take place from February 10 to 26, 2023.

Australia previously toured India for a limited-overs series back in 2018. They whitewashed the hosts 3-0 in the ODIs.