Australia v India 2026
Perhaps the most compelling rivalry in both men’s and women’s formats, India and Australia are preparing to clash once more in a set of Test and limited overs fixtures Down Under. Most of the series will be played at the same time as the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup, but there’s little risk of viewer fatigue, given the context. That’s because, after India’s triumph at the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup – a watershed moment that could well rival the IPL for the development of the game in India – the balance of cricketing power in women’s cricket may finally have shifted.
For years, the Southern Stars defined the standard for the women’s game, as the most dominant team in history. The team has been littered with all-time greats for seemingly decades now, as young stars continued their form into stunning twilight years – think Perry, Haynes, Lanning – and has won nearly every tournament and series that it has contested. With captain Alyssa Healy having recently announced that she will retire from all formats after this series, India’s tour will also mark a farewell for the game’s most prolific wicketkeeper, and one of its most productive runscorers.
It means that, much like their men’s counterparts, the Australian women’s side continues its period of transition, grappling with retirements, the integration of emerging talent, and fitness and injury management. While the squad and set- up still remains a factory of formidable talent, with names such as Gardner, Mooney and Harris enough to strike fear into any Indian fan’s heart, after this series only Perry will remain from the great Australian sides of yesteryear, and that matters.
India’s situation is a far cry from the hometown heroes.
The World Cup victory in front of 40,000 fans in Navi Mumbai was transformative. Previously known as underperformers in crunch moments, the team overcame early tournament heartbreak to vanquish the undefeated Australians and then South Africa in thrilling, capacity-crowd finals classics.
While India’s side arrives on Australian shores replete with talent in all departments, that is not new. What is new is something that cannot be bought or taught: this team knows how to win.
It’s a quality perhaps best exemplified by the recent journeys of Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues – the heroes of those knockout games in the World Cup. Women’s T20
On their first tour to Australia five years ago, Verma and Rodrigues delighted but hardly dazzled. The then-teenagers were on the brink of promising careers, but even they would acknowledge that, until very recently, their careers had perhaps not reached the heights that were foretold. In fact, neither player was regularly in India’s first-choice XI during the tournament. But little could they have predicted how dramatically that would shift in a matter of days.
Rodrigues, fresh from repeated exile after being dropped from the team ahead of the 2022 World Cup and then again ahead of the England game in the 2025 edition, crafted a masterful 127* to guide India to the highest successful run chase in women’s ODI history – against none other than seven-time champions Australia.
Meanwhile, Verma, whose batting has long been compared to former Indian opener Virender Sehwag for both its audacity and effectiveness, was a last-minute replacement for the final, for the injured (and in-form) Pratika Rawal. And Verma responded with a player of the match performance, blasting 87 and picking up two wickets to cement India’s inaugural victory.
Rodrigues and Verma’s journeys will of course inspire generations of young cricketers. But their heroics will also inspire their teammates, including newcomers G Kamalini and Vaishnavi Sharma. After having excelled in the highest-pressure situations the game has to offer, a bilateral series against Australia is the perfect setting for India to continue a braver style of cricket that could prove pivotal in decisive moments.
For Australia, now bereft of trophies for the first time in a long time, this series is about proving a point, cementing Healy’s legacy, and continuing a transition. While players typically hate to use the word, there is no doubt Australia will be after revenge for the semi-final loss, which was the last time the two sides met.
Meanwhile, for India, Rodrigues put it best when she spoke to Indian Link those many years ago, “I think the better we do as cricketers, the better [women’s cricket] is going to get in India. It means there’s a bigger responsibility on our shoulders”.
That responsibility is now at an all-time high as India seeks to live up to its status as the game’s new premier team. Australia v India 2026 women’s cricket
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