India an unfamiliar foe for Southern Stars

Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars coach Matthew Mott and skipper Meg Lanning admit there's an element of the unknown about the India squad they will meet in six limited-overs matches later this month.

India have named their one-day and Twenty20 international squads for the series, which will comprise three T20s – played as double-headers with the men's KFC T20 International Series – and three day-night one-day internationals at Manuka Oval (February 2) and Blundstone Arena (February 5 and 7).

Skippered by captain Mithali Raj, who is ranked in the ICC's top 10 batters in both white-ball formats, India's line-up also boasts the top-ranked female ODI bowler in Jhulan Goswani, a right-arm medium pacer.

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There are no Indian players taking part in the Rebel Women's Big Bash League this summer and only four players remain from the India XI which hosted the Southern Stars in 2012, meaning many of the players will be unknown to Australia when the first T20 gets underway in Adelaide on January 26.

Nonetheless, Mott and Lanning are expecting a good battle against the fourth-ranked women's team.

"They're a bit of an unknown but we're gathering information from the girls who've played against them before," Mott told cricket.com.au.

"Their squad has changed quite a bit since the last time we played them, with a few new names and young faces we're not familiar with.

"But they'll have very skilled players and they're looking to put a lot more into their female program as well, so it's only a matter of time before they're a real force in women's cricket."

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Lanning, who played against India in Australia's 3-0 series win in 2012, said India tended to play a different style to the Southern Stars.

"We haven't played them a lot recently so I'm certainly looking forward to it," Lanning told cricket.com.au.

"It's going to be a good challenge for us and it's probably a different style of cricket that they play.

"They have a fair few spinners, they bowl a bit differently and their batting style is a little bit different too, they tend to play a little bit more square of the wicket.

"It'll be interesting for them playing in Australia with different wickets to what they're used to playing on at home."

While the Southern Stars hold the upper hand over India in both limited-overs formats, winning 31 of 38 ODIs and eight of nine T20s, India was triumphant last time they toured Australia, taking out the one-day series 2-0 in 2009.

India ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Jhulan Goswamy (vice capt), Smriti Mandhana, MD Thirushkamini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Niranjana Nagarajan, Sushma Verma, Kalpana R, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Raut, Poonam Yadav, Sneh Rana

India T20 squad: Mithali Raj (c), Jhulan Goswamy (vice capt), Smriti Mandhana, MD Thirushkamini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Niranjana Nagarajan, Sushma Verma, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, VR Vanitha, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma

Southern Stars v India T20s:

January 26: Southern Stars v India (Adelaide Oval), 2.30pm AEDT

January 29: Southern Stars v India (MCG), 2.30pm AEDT

January 31: Southern Stars v India (SCG), 2.30pm AEDT

Southern Stars v India ODIs:

February 2: Southern Stars v India (Manuka Oval), 2.30pm AEDT

February 5: Southern Stars v India (Blundstone Arena), 2.30pm AEDT

February 7: Southern Stars v India (Blundstone Arena), 2.30pm AEDT