Ahead of World Cup, India get to test themselves against mighty Aussies

The buildup to the series has been far from ideal but the Indian womens cricket team will be keen to give a tough time to the allconquering Australia in the fivematch T20 rubber beginning here on FridayWith two months go for the T20 World Cup in South Africa the Harmanpreet Kaurled side should also exactly know where they stand following the five gamesHead coach Ramesh Powar was suddenly sacked three days before the series opener and former India batter Hrishikesh Kanitkar is now in charge of the support staff as the designated batting coachIndia managed to win the Asia Cup in October though they were guilty of experimenting a tad too much which cost them a league game against PakistanIn the recent past India have managed to compete against the mighty Australia but failed to get over the line One such case was their last meeting in the Commonwealth Games final in August when India threw it away after a blinder from Harmanpreet in the run chaseAlso readHarmanpreet Kaur to lead Team India against Australia in T20I seriesThe batting has a settled look with star batter Smriti Mandhana expected to score the bulk of the runs Her opening partner Shafali Verma who will lead in the U19 World Cup next month will be put under pressure by the Australian pacers considering her weakness against the short ballJemimah Rodrigues has shown good form ever since returning to the national side while skipper Harmanpreet too has regained consistency Harleen Deol and Yastika Bhatia have made a comeback after their prolific run in the Challenger TrophyLegspin bowling allrounder Devika Vaidya has made a return to the T20 side after eight years and her presence lends variety to the spin attack full of leftarmers and offiesRenuka Thakur has been the standout pacer for the team over the past six months and she would be hoping for support from uncapped leftarm seamer Anjali SarvaniAustralia who will be led by Alyssa Healy in Meg Lannings absence too have fresh faces in the lineup Expectations are high from 19yearold batter Phoebe Litchfield who is expected to fill the retired Rachael Haynes shoes The southpaw had spent a lot of time with Mandhana during the WBBL last yearExIreland pacer Kim Garth and Heather Graham are also expected to make their Australia debutLanning is not part of the touring party as she has taken an indefinite break from the gameAustralia squad Alyssa Healy c Tahlia McGrath vc Darcie Brown Nicola Carey Ashleigh Gardner Kim Garth Heather Graham Grace Harris Jess Jonassen Alana King Phoebe Litchfield Beth Mooney Ellyse Perry Megan Schutt Annabel SutherlandIndia squad Harmanpreet Kaur c Smriti Mandhana vc Shafali Verma Yastika Bhatia Jemimah Rodrigues Deepti Sharma Radha Yadav Rajeshwari Gayakwad Renuka Singh Thakur Meghna Singh Anjali Sarvani Devika Vaidya S Meghana Richa Ghosh Harleen DeolMatch starts 7 PM ISTThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever