Australia will get a valuable chance to fine-tune their preparations for the upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 when they take on hosts India in a three-match ODI series starting Sunday.
Most players in the current Australian squad are no strangers to Indian conditions, having featured regularly in bilateral series as well as the Women’s Premier League (WPL). However, they will encounter fresh challenges this time, with World Cup group stage matches scheduled in Visakhapatnam, where they last played in 2012, and Indore, a venue new to them.
Vice-captain Tahlia McGrath believes the squad’s balance and depth will help them adapt quickly. “We have been quite lucky, we feel like we’re travelling to India every second month, almost. Spent a lot of time over here, played in these conditions a lot, but we’re playing in some parts that we’re not very familiar with. No matter where you are in India, you can get thrown up very different conditions from day to day, so excited about the challenge, [we have] a little bit of experience, but a little bit of unknowns,” she said.
Australia named their squad on Thursday with a few surprises in terms of selections. Alyssa Healy, returning from an injury-plagued year, will lead the defending champions, backed by stalwarts Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Ash Gardner, and McGrath herself.
“We’ve been pretty settled with our squad for quite a while now, so we’ve been pretty lucky with that,” McGrath said. “We’ve got so much talent, so much depth over here that it doesn’t really matter what team we throw out or what batting order, all that sort of thing, we’re in pretty good hands.”
Australia, already the most successful team in Women’s World Cup history with seven titles, will be fuelled by the chance to add another milestone, becoming the first side in decades to defend the ODI crown. The last time it was achieved was when Australia themselves completed a hat-trick of wins in 1978, 1982, and 1988.
“An ODI World Cup is special, they’re probably the pinnacle,” McGrath said. “And then the extra little bit of motivation as well that we want to be the first team in a while to go back-to-back (in the) ODI World Cup.”