Mithali Raj Confident With India's Preparation For Australia Tour

Indian women's cricket team skipper Mithali Raj believes her side's tour of England in June this year and further preparations at home bode well for a fruitful outing in Australia and the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand.

Playing in their first-ever day-night Test match, the Indian side will also take on Australia in three ODIs and three T20Is.

While Mithali admitted on Sunday that there will be a number of firsts on the tour of Australia, the skipper praised the flexibility of her playing group, and believes her team will adapt to conditions.

"We know we are playing against the best side in the world. But we are confident in the sort of preparation we managed to have here in India," said Mithali.

A win in the one-off Test against Australia will secure four points in the series, with wins in the ODIs and T20Is worth two each.

"It (series) is going to be big because most of the questions are revolving around the pink ball, then the one day cricket and the T20 cricket. We don't go in with a set mindset, it's all about how we apply ourselves according to the situation present at that moment.

"The Test match in Australia will be slightly different because we are playing with a pink ball and under lights. That's a very different experience for all of us."

India women's team coach Ramesh Powar emphasised the importance of India's overall goals -- to win the series and make strides towards the Women's World Cup in New Zealand in March next year.

Also Read: India tour of England, 2021

"We are going to play three ODIs first and the World Cup going forward is a very important tournament for us, and we are focusing right now on the World Cup preparation. At the end of it, it is a game of bat and ball, so we don't want to put pressure on the team, where we have to prepare differently for every format, we back our players in that particular format, they're good enough to react to the situation."