Indian women are currently on tour to Australia, playing a three-match double white-ball series against the most successful team in Women’s World Cup history. After a successful T20I leg of the series, which saw India register a 2-1 win over the giants of the game, they now face the ODIs.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s huge injury scare during the India-Australia match
India opted to bat first after Harmanpreet won the toss against the Aussies. This marks the final series for Australia captain Alyssa Healy before she retires from her international career. Moreover, this is the first time that India will play against Australia after winning the World Cup in 2025.
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While Harmanpreet Kaur was batting during the first innings, she injured her left knee with a huge blow. She did not take the field during the second innings and the BCCI Medical team is currently monitoring her as per the updates on the official X page of BCCI Women.
“Captain Harmanpreet Kaur did not take the field in the second innings after sustaining an injury to her left knee while batting. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring her progress. Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana is leading the side in her absence,” BCCI said.
🚨 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur did not take the field in the second innings after sustaining an injury to her left knee while batting. The BCCI medical team is monitoring her progress. Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana will lead the team in her absence.#TeamIndia |…
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 24, 2026
Harmanpreet Kaur stabilized India during the mid-overs with a half-century
India are playing these white-ball matches to build a combination suitable for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, to be held in England in the coming months. Their series started on a high note with a confident win in the shortest format of the game.
However, as India struggled to maintain its reputation as world champions, the entire top order collapsed miserably despite Smriti Mandhana’s half-century; someone had to play a face-saving innings in those middle overs.
The captain took over after Smriti’s dismissal and alongside cameo partnerships with Richa Ghosh and Kashvee Gautam, she set the stage for a fightback for the Women in Blue as they crossed the 200-run mark.
World champions struggle in Australian conditions and fail to bat 50 overs
This series marks Women in Blues’ first campaign abroad after being crowned champions of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup played in India in 2025. However, on their very first tour, where they had something to prove beyond home field advantage, they struggled to keep up the flow.
They failed to play their 50 overs of their innings and were bowled out for just 214 runs, with 9 balls left in their innings. Defending such a small total against the powerful batting unit now depends on the Indian bowlers.
It also marks Alyssa Healy’s final series before she retires, which is why the Aussies would also like to give her a winning farewell. She made the announcement and Sophie Molineux was also named captain of the Australian side.
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