India Women vs Australia Women: India’s decision to shift their training base to Sharjah Cricket Stadium just two days ahead of their crucial group match against Australia on October 13 has raised a few eyebrows. Sitting in some of the VIP seats, watching New Zealand play, the Indians moved themselves into one corner of the massive stadium, near the Sachin Tendulkar stand, one of the biggest tourist attractions in the UAE.
Interestingly, teams like England and Australia, who played three group matches here, have not been accorded training sessions here. Still, the fact that they are more than comfortable in front of the Sri Lanka and New Zealand camps indicates that despite this being their first international outing in Sharjah, Australia will not be an easy proposition.
India resorted to the 30-kilometer drive to Sharjah instead of the usual 20-minute drive from their venue at the ICC Academy in Dubai to get acclimated better. They also invited players from the U-16 and U-19 teams of the Sharjah Cricket Academy for an intense three-hour training session over two days.
“I don’t get the sense that it is a grip scorching pitch,” said India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur. “When we were watching matches in Sharjah on TV, it looked like the ball was gripping more. But during our practice batting yesterday, it didn’t feel that way. It was coming onto the bat nicely, and we have another day to prepare and finalize our game plans.”
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Australia, though, has its problems ahead, losing Alyssa Healy, the captain, due to a foot injury and Tayla Vlaeminck due to a dislocated shoulder in the recently played game. The two were scanned on Saturday and a decision on their availability is expected closer to the match.
India can relate, as they also came into the game against Sri Lanka needing a win, losing Harmanpreet because of an injury and still not fully over an ankle concern Pooja Vastrakar. At practice, they’re doing all their different preparation drills, but Harmanpreet is specifically working on knee rehab.
As far as the composition of the team is concerned, Vastrakar’s inclusion is not sure in case India decides to go spin-heavy because Sharjah seems to be a spinner-friendly venue for the ongoing World Cup. So far in the five night games played at Sharjah, spinners have accounted for 45 scalps, while pacers have claimed only 22 and for that reason, teams are making heavy use of spinners.
Match Details:
Day: Sunday, 13 October
Time: 6:00 PM Local Time | 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
What to Expect: So far, in matches played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, In all other four matches, three out of the four teams batted first and went on to win, though that was against their opponents, the fourth team batting first could not defend the modest total of 124 as South Africa succumbed to the challenge from England.
Probable Playing XIs
India Probable XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav/S Sajana, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyannka Patil, Renuka Thakur, Asha Sobhana
Australia Probable XI: Beth Mooney (wk), Grace Harris, Ellyse Perry, Phoebe Litchfield, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Tahlia McGrath (C), Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown/Alana King
