Cricket: Harmanpreet Kaur and Co to play England, Australia at home in December and January

The Indian women’s cricket team will begin their season at home with England and Australia visiting for a multi-format series against each team across December and January.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed this on their website, mentioning that A tours will also resume with India A hosting England A for three Twenty20 Internationals at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, beginning on November 29.

The England and Australia tours will be the first assignment for newly-appointed coach Amol Mazumdar, who was named the head coach of the Indian women’s team on Wednesday.

This will also be the first competitive fixture for the Indian team after their historic gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where they beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs.

England’s tour of India will begin with three T20Is, all being played at the Wankhede stadium under lights. The tour will end with a single Test, the first to be played in India since 2014, between December 14-17 at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai.

The last time England visited India was back in 2019 where the former world champions played three T20Is in Mumbai, losing 2-1 before sweeping the One-Day International series in Guwahati 3-0. However, it has been over 20 years, back in 2005, since England have played a Test series in India.

According to reports from ESPN Cricinfo, the availability of players for the pre-season training may depend on their schedule for the Women’s Big Bash League, that is supposed to end on December 2.

After the test against England ends, the home team will have four days to recover before playing their second Test of the season against Australia on December 21-24 at the Wankhede stadium. It will have been a year since Australia beat the hosts emphatically in a five-match T20I series in December 2022, winning 4-1 after India won the single-over eliminator in the second T20I.

India will then play three ODIs and three T20Is against Australia, wrapping up the multi-format series in January.