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Lanning’s return poses selection conundrum

In-form batters and a bevy of allrounders has Australian selectors facing some big decisions ahead of Thursday's opening T20

Australia's T20I tri-series against India and England is set to cause more headaches – albeit welcome ones – for the national selectors on the Commonwealth Bank Tour of India.

Having already made the tough call to drop Elyse Villani from the one-day side to fit in in-form Queenslander Beth Mooney, the return of captain Meg Lanning is set to pose another conundrum for selectors ahead of Thursday's opening T20I against India in Mumbai.

For the ODIs, Lanning filled the spot vacated by retired vice-captain Alex Blackwell. But Blackwell didn't feature in Australia's most recent T20I series against England last November, so slotting Lanning into the XI means leaving out one of the incumbent top five of Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Elyse Villani, Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry.

Alternatively, they could shift the team balance by keeping the extra batter and removing either an allrounder or specialist bowler.

There's also the question of the make-up of the bowling attack. While the same top eight batters and allrounders featured in all three T20Is against England, and Megan Schutt spearheaded the attack each match, the two remaining bowling spots were tweaked each match. 

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Gone from that Ashes squad are two of those three players who rotated in and out of the XI – veteran seamer Sarah Aley and off-spinner Molly Strano – with uncapped left-arm tweaker Sophie Molineux and seam-bowling allrounder Nicola Carey the additions, joining leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington.

"I definitely don't envy the selectors, that's for sure," allrounder Jess Jonassen said on Monday as Australia travelled from Vadodara back to Mumbai.

"They had a tough job during the ODI format as well, we had people like Elyse Villani missing out on the XI in those games.

"I think that's a very good problem for us to have though, it's proof of the depth of Australia cricket at the moment that players of those capabilities are struggling to get into the side."

Given the number of genuine allrounders in Australia's squad – six of 14 players – there's plenty of flexibility in the squad.

That versatility was a positive coach Matthew Mott touched on at the end of the Rebel Women's Big Bash League season, when he said selectors were ready to back players they believe will play a major role in Australia's mission to win both the 2018 and 2020 World T20 titles. 

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"Across the board a lot of our batters were up there which is good to see, now it's the bowlers who need to try and take that to the next level," Mott told cricket.com.au ahead of the team's departure for India.

"There are always areas we can tinker with and improve to get the best-balanced side out.

"There's also a number of allrounders out there putting their hands up, which is good for versatility."

The opening match of the tri-series between Australia and India will be played on Thursday at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium – the venue for all seven matches.

Cricket.com.au will provide news, scores, highlights and behind-the-scenes coverage from on the ground in India, while Fox Sports will broadcast the T20I tri-series live.

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rumeli Dhar, Mona Meshram.

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Katie George, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Anya Shrubsole, Bryony Smith, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by 321 runs. Report

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by seven wickets. Report

ODI series

First ODI Australia won by eight wickets. Scorecard

Second ODI Australia won by 60 runs. Scorecard

Third ODI Australia won by 97 runs. Scorecard

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 22. Live Coverage

Second T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 23. Live Coverage

Third T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 25. Live Coverage

Fourth T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, March 26. Live Coverage

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28. Live Coverage

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29. Live Coverage

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31. Live Coverage