A multi-format visit by India, the defending ODI World Cup champions who dethroned Australia a few months ago to finally win the trophy that has long felt like a game-changer, is arguably the hardest thing they could ask for to start things off.

Australia has not had a worldwide trophy in their cabinet for almost ten years, a gaming legend has already retired from one format, with the other two to follow soon, and a new captain is leading the team. Even if a lot of the team is well-known, there is undoubtedly a feeling of a new beginning.

Sophie Molineux will lead Australia in the Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) at the beginning of this series. Three ODIs and a single Test match in Perth will follow, with the latter two serving as the capstone to Alyssa Healy’s incredible career. With two points awarded for a white-ball victory and four for a Test triumph (two for a draw), the points system is in effect, unlike when Australia visited India in 2024–25 when each format was independent.

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“That [the World Cup] was a different format, and T20 is a different format,” Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of India, stated.

“Having won a world championship obviously boosts your confidence, but you have to start over every time you set foot on the court. We all have a great time playing T20 as a squad, and it’s always entertaining to play against Australia.”

Over the next two years, there will be a significant emphasis on T20 due to the global tournament schedule: the 2026 T20 World Cup is scheduled for June, followed by a new Champions Trophy in 2027, the 2028 LA Olympics, and another T20 World Cup. It will be fascinating to see how many of the Australia team survive all of that after Healy retires.

For the first time since 2019, batter Bharti Fulmali has rejoined the Indian team, and her batting strike rate is a noteworthy aspect of her game. For the first time since the 2024 T20 World Cup, offspinner Shreyanka Patil is also back.

Australia has only played three matches in the last 12 months, against New Zealand in March, whereas India has more recent experience with the T20 format, having played five games against Sri Lanka (winning all of them) in late December.

Although Sophie Molineux’s name was not at the top of most people’s lists, she will guide Australia into the future. Not a reference to Molineux’s reputation as a player—her bowling stats in white-ball internationals are outstanding—but rather the fact that she has missed so much cricket because of a terrible run of injuries contributed to the general astonishment. It was recognized that she might occasionally take a break even after being named captain. Although she has been regarded as a first pick when healthy, her status as a spin-bowling all-rounder may potentially lead to some intriguing selection choices. It will be interesting to see where she chooses to bat.

Smriti Mandhana has had an incredible WPL season in which she guided Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to victory and was the league’s leading run scorer. The stand of 165 with Georgia Voll in the final, when she fought flu to smash 87 off 41 balls, was the high point. Despite India’s absence from the T20I format since 2021, she has a strong record in Australia, amassing 400 runs at 28.57 and a strike rate of 122.69. Mandhana has averaged 44.50 with a strike rate of 143.54 in T20Is since the most recent T20 World Cup. With 36 off 29 balls against the Governor General’s XI, she warmed up for the series.

Team news: Could Nicola Carey be called back?

Molineux stated that the side’s balance was still being considered. That makes it possible to remember Nicola Carey. In essence, Molineux replaced Alana King from Australia’s previous Twenty20 team in March. The choice between Kim Garth and Darcie Brown among the fast bowlers may come down to this.

Australia, perhaps:

Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Tahlia McGrath, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux (capt), Georgia Voll, Beth Mooney (wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Wareham, Darcie Brown, and Megan Schutt

India must choose how to structure their spin attack. After going 2 for 24 in the warm-up, offspinner Patil may play in her first Twenty20 International since 2024.

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Richa Ghosh (worker), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Kranti Gaud, N Shree Charani/Vaishnavi Sharma, and Renuka Singh are the likely players for India.

Conditions and pitch: Pay attention to the weather

All four T20I matches played at the SCG have been won by Australia. With totals of 134, 136, and 198—the latter coming against England last season—they have batted first in three of those games. Should we avoid talking about Sydney’s rain? Unfortunately, Sunday is predicted to bring showers.

Data and trivia

To surpass Meg Lanning as Australia’s top run scorer in Twenty20 Internationals, Beth Mooney needs to score 25 runs.

Kim Garth, who took 42 wickets while playing for Ireland, needs one wicket to reach 50 in Twenty20 Internationals.

In their last 19 bilateral T20I series, Australia has only suffered one defeat.
Megan Schutt (151) was just surpassed by Deepti Sharma (152 wickets) as the top wicket-taker in Twenty20 Internationals.

Sayings

It will be quite weird, in my opinion. I have some relatives coming. Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about what it will be like to lead the squad out and sing the song.

Sophie Molineux on her first game day as captain: “Winning the ODI World Cup was one of our goals, and we are really working hard to attain all of them. Therefore, we are headed in the correct direction; we are simply putting in a lot of effort.”