Australia's tour of India announced

Australia will have a chance to turn the tables on the team who ended their Women’s World Cup dream when they travel to India for a limited-overs tour next March.

The tour will also feature a T20I tri-series between Australia, India and England, in what will be a crucial hit-out ahead of the Women’s World T20 in the Caribbean next November.

Australia will meet India in three one-day internationals in the second round of the ICC’s Women’s Championship, with all three games to be played in Baroda, the third largest city in the state of Gujarat.

They’ll arrive on the subcontinent on March 3 and will play India A in two warm-up matches in Mumbai before moving to Baroda, where they’ll meet India on March 12, 15 and 18.

Their attention will then turn to the 20-over game, when England arrives for the T20I tri-series to be played at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium.

That series will kick off with a clash between the hosts and Australia on March 22, culminating in the tri-series final on April 3.

Australia lost the T20 portion of the recent multi-format Women’s Ashes to England 2-1, while they were also unsuccessful on home soil against India in early 2016 when the tourists captured a historic 2-1 series win.

With a World T20 tournament looming in the Caribbean next November, the tri-series will be a perfect chance for Matthew Mott’s charges to refine their game in the shortest format.

“It will be good preparation for the World T20,” Mott told cricket.com.au. “I think the tri-series is ideal, we’ll get the best of both worlds.

“We’ll be playing another team (England) not in their home environment, so we can gauge ourselves against them and we match up well against them.

“It’s three good sides, so it should be a great learning experience for everyone, particularly those who haven’t been to India that often.”

Australia already have four points to their names in the second edition of the ICC Women’s Championship, having claimed their ODI series against England 2-1 during the Ashes.

They won the first edition of the tournament – which sees the top eight teams play each other in a round-robin format every four years with World Cup qualification on the line – after winning 18 of a possible 21 matches during that period.

India ended Australia’s World Cup hopes in Derby in July when an unbeaten 171 from Harmanpreet Kaur powered her team into the tournament final, where they ultimately finished runners-up to hosts England.

Australia have never lost an ODI series to India and on their most recent visit in 2012 claimed a 3-0 victory, but India’s recent results – including their World Cup performances – set the scene for what should be a tough battle.

The Southern Stars have played in Baroda once before, when a team featuring current vice-captain Alex Blackwell suffered a five-wicket defeat in 2004.

The subcontinent tour could also mark the return of Australia captain and star batter Meg Lanning.

Speaking to cricket.com.au last week, Mott said Lanning’s recovery was on track to return in India following the shoulder surgery that ruled her out of the Women’s Ashes and Rebel WBBL|03, but warned there would be no risking the batter if she wasn’t 100 per cent.

"Things are looking pretty good, she’s meeting her milestones at the moment,” Mott said.

"I’ve had a couple of hits with her up in Brisbane and if you look at that in isolation, she almost looks ready to play.

"But there’s a lot of things she has to get on top of before then. She’s throwing now, she’s getting into that and its improving but we want her shoulder to be 100 per cent before she comes back.

"It’s looking positive and if she’s right, she’ll go (to India) but if she’s not she’ll have to sit out for a bit longer."

A squad for the tour will be named in February and Mott said performance in WBBL|03 would be “huge” when it came to team selection.

"It's a big year in T20 cricket for us and a large proportion of our games will be T20s," Mott told cricket.com.au.

"It's a great opportunity for our players who have come out of the Ashes and played well to reinforce that they've made advancements and are ready to keep playing at that level.

"And for some younger players, it's a great vehicle to put their hands up and show the selectors what they can do."

Australia’s ODI and T20I tour of India

First warm-up Mumbai, March 6

Second warm-up Mumbai, March 8

First ODI Baroda, March 12

Second ODI Baroda, March 15

Third ODI Baroda, March 18

First T20I – India v Australia, Mumbai, March 22

Second T20I – Australia v England, Mumbai, March 24

Third T20I – India v England, Mumbai, March 26

Fourth T20I – India v Australia, Mumbai, March 28

Fifth T20I – Australia v England, Mumbai, March 30

Sixth T20I – India v England, Mumbai, April 1

Final – TBC, Mumbai, April 3

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