India stars withdraw from Hundred ahead of Aussie tour

India stars Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have departed The Hundred early, as their national teammates commence preparations for next month’s tour of Australia.

Mandhana has left the Southern Brave after helping the side qualify for the August 22 final to spend time with family, while Kaur has withdrawn from Manchester Originals due to a quad injury, returning to India to recuperate ahead of the multi-format series Down Under.

"I would love to be able to stay with the team until the final, but we've been away from home for a long time with more tours ahead," Mandhana said in a statement.

"I'll be watching the team at Lord's and hoping they can continue our good form. It's been a fantastic competition to be involved in and I've really enjoyed it."

A handful of India’s biggest stars have been away from home and largely living in bubbles since mid-May, having undergone pre-isolation ahead of their June multi-format tour of England.

Mandhana, Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues all remained in the UK for The Hundred; the latter three will return to India as soon as their franchise duties are completed, heading directly to Bengaluru to join their teammates in camp.

Rodrigues has been the breakout star of the tournament after a form slump with the bat in series against South Africa and England. In six innings for Northern Superchargers she has struck 248 runs at an average of 49.6, with an impressive strike rate of 154.3, to lead the league runs tally.

India are expected to arrive in Australia at the end of the month, where they will undergo a fortnight of hotel quarantine ahead of a series featuring three ODIs, one Test and three T20Is, running from September 19 to October 11.

A similar group of stars are understood to have penned deals to appear in this year’s WBBL in October and November (pending No Objection Certificates being issued by the BCCI), and by the end of that tournament on November 27, some players - such as 17-year-old Shafali Verma - could have been on the road for more than six months.

Ten of Australia's nationally contracted players had been due to appear in The Hundred, but all withdrew once it became clear how close their fortnight of hard hotel quarantine upon their return home would be to the start of the India series.  

Women’s Criczone reported the extended group, which is a combination of nationally contracted players and leading domestic talent, would undergo five days of quarantine in camp before commencing training.

The final selected squad will then fly to Australia, with their departure date yet to be publicly confirmed.

Australia’s squad for the multi-format series is expected to be named next week, as ongoing state border closures cause headaches ahead of the international summer.

Last week, Australia vice-captain Rachael Haynes said she and her fellow NSW-based national teammates were resigned to the likelihood they would need to quarantine ahead of the series.

As it stands, no changes to the schedule for the upcoming CommBank Series have been confirmed by Cricket Australia, with the first ODI currently slated for North Sydney Oval on September 19 before matches in Melbourne and Perth.

But with Greater Sydney in lockdown until at least the end of August, and all state and territory borders closed to those coming from NSW, disruption to those plans appears inevitable.

"I think that the reality is that the players in New South Wales are very much aware of the fact that to leave the state, we will have to participate in some form of quarantine," Haynes told reporters on Thursday.

"But exactly how that looks in terms of whether it's a hard hotel quarantine or perhaps like the past where we’ve still able to train in some capacity … I don't believe there is an answer to that question at this very moment but (we’ll find out) over the coming weeks.

"Once we know, that will crystallise what it does look like for us in terms of our preparation.

"But yeah, I think the players based in New South Wales are definitely resigned to the fact that we will have to quarantine in some capacity."

At least three Sydney-based players are likely to be included in the Australian squad – Ashleigh Gardner and Alyssa Healy alongside Haynes – while Hannah Darlington may receive another call-up after her maiden tour of New Zealand in March.

2021-22 Women's International Season

Commonwealth Bank Women's Series v India

Sep 19: First ODI, North Sydney Oval (D/N)

Sep 22: Second ODI, Junction Oval

Sep 24: Third ODI, Junction Oval

Sep 30 – Oct 3: Test match, WACA Ground (D/N)

Oct 7: First T20, North Sydney Oval

Oct 9: Second T20, North Sydney Oval

Oct 11: Third T20, North Sydney Oval

Commonwealth Bank Women's Ashes v England

Jan 27-30: Test match, Manuka Oval

Feb 4: First T20, North Sydney Oval

Feb 6: Second T20, North Sydney Oval

Feb 10: Third T20, Adelaide Oval

Feb 13: First ODI, Adelaide Oval

Feb 16: Second ODI, Junction Oval

Feb 19: Third ODI, Junction Oval