AUS Women vs IND Women 2025/26, AUS-W vs IND-W 1st T20I Match Preview

The Big Picture: The Molyneux Era, Part 1

Australia have no global trophy in their cabinet for the first time in almost a decade, a legend of the game has already retired from one format, the other two are set to follow soon, and a new captain is at the helm. Although many of the team are familiar faces, there is definitely a sense of a fresh start.

And they probably couldn’t have asked for a tougher proposal to get things started. It’s a multi-format visit by India, the reigning ODI World Cup champions, to finally secure the silverware that took Australia off its pedestal a few months ago and seemed to change things for years.

The series will begin with a T20I with Sophie Molyneux in charge of Australia, followed by three ODIs and a one-off Test in Perth. The latter two elements add to Alyssa Healy’s impressive career. Unlike when Australia visited India in 2024-25, when each format was separate, a points system has been introduced, with two points awarded for a white-ball win and four points for a Test win (two points for a draw).

“that [the World Cup] India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said. “Being world champions always gives you a lot of confidence, but every time you step on the ground you have to start from ball one. T20s are something we all really enjoy playing as a team and it’s always fun playing against Australia.”

If you look at the global tournament schedule, the emphasis will be on T20 for the next few years. June will host the 2026 T20 World Cup, the new Champions Trophy in 2027, the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and the T20 World Cup again. It will be interesting to see how many players in the Australian side can get through this after Healy retires.

For India, batsman Bharti Phulmali returned to the team for the first time since 2019, with batting being a notable part of her game. Off-spinner Shreyanka Patil will also return for the first time since the 2024 T20 World Cup.

India have recently become familiar with the T20 format, playing five matches against Sri Lanka in late December (all wins), while Australia have only played three matches in the past 12 months, against New Zealand in March last year.

form guide

Australia WWWWW(Last 5 completed matches, most recent first)
India WWWWW

In the spotlight: Sophie Molyneux and Smriti Mandhana

Although her name wasn’t at the top of most people’s lists, Sophie Molyneux It will lead Australia into the next era. Part of the reason for the general surprise was not so much a comment on Molyneux’s status as a player, although her bowling performance in white-ball internationals was exceptional, but rather the fact that she had missed so many matches in cricket due to scare absences due to injury. Even when she was announced as captain, it was acknowledged that she could be rested from time to time. Being a spin-bowling all-rounder could also make for an interesting selection decision, but he could also be considered a first pick if he’s a good fit. It will be interesting to see where she chooses to bat.

smriti mandana She came out of an outstanding WPL where she was the top scorer and led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to the title. The highlight was her stand of 165 alongside Georgia Vol in the final, where she scored 87 off 41 balls while battling the flu. She has a solid T20I record for Australia with 400 runs at 28.57 and a strike rate of 122.69, but India has not played in this format since 2021. Since the last T20 World Cup, Mandhana averaged 44.50 in T20Is. His strike rate is 143.54. She warmed up for the series with 36 off 29 balls against the Governor’s eleven.

Team News: Is there room for a Nicola Carey recall?

Molyneux said he was still considering the balance of his squad. This opens the door to the recall of Nicola Carey. Molyneux herself was effectively swapped for Alana King from Australia’s former T20 team in March last year. Among the pace bowlers, the final battle could be between Darcey Brown and Kim Garth.

Australia (Possible): 1 Georgia Vol, 2 Beth Mooney (week), 3 Phoebe Litchfield, 4 Elise Perry, 5 Annabelle Sutherland, 6 Talia McGrath, 7 Nicola Carey, 8 Sophie Molyneux (Captain), 9 Georgia Wareham, 10 Darcey Brown, 11 Megan Schutt

India needs to decide on the structure of their spin attack. Off-spinner Patil had two hits in 24 in the warm-up and could play in his first T20I since 2024.

India (Possible): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Jemima Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), 5 Richa Ghosh (week), 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Arundhati Reddy, 8 Shreyanka Patil, 9 Kranti Gaud, 10, N Shree Chalani/Vaishnavi Sharma, 11 Renuka Singh

Pitch and conditions: watch the weather

Australia won all four T20Is played at the SCG. They batted first in three of those games, scoring totals of 134, 136 and 198. The latter was against England last season. Let’s not mention the rain in Sydney. Unfortunately, showers are forecast for Sunday.

statistics and trivia

quotation

“I think it’s going to be pretty surreal. I’ve got a little family coming, and the last few days I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to lead the team in singing the national anthem.”
Sophie Molyneux What will her first match day as captain look like?

“We are working hard to achieve all our goals and winning the ODI World Cup was one of them. So we are on the right track. We are just working hard.”
Harmanpreet Kaur On whether India can be considered the best team in the world.

Andrew McGlashan is ESPNcricinfo’s deputy editor.

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