Venue for India Women's tour of Australia changed due to Pandemic and Border Restrictions

The pandemic and state border restrictions have once again posed an issue as the India Women’s Tour of Australia schedule had to be altered. The location has been changed as the series will now be played in Queensland instead of Sydney.

Smriti Mandhana in action. PC: Getty Images

The series will now start on September 21^st with the three ODIs that will be played in Mackay. Following the ODIs, the day-night Test and three T20Is will be played at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast.

#ICYMI India’s upcoming tour of Australia will be played entirely in Queensland due to the ongoing lockdowns and border closures in NSW and Victoria. #AUSvIND

Here’s how the revised schedule looks like 👇 pic.twitter.com/IrMN0G8U21

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 30, 2021

The Indian Women’s squad that departed for Australia on the 29^th of August as well as players from New South Wales and Victoria will start their two-week quarantine period today onwards in Brisbane. The rest of the Australian squad will assemble as the starting date of the series approaches.

✈️ Australia Calling! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/JuuFTfIxbM

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 29, 2021

On this decision, Cricket Australia’s CEO Nick Hockley stated, “We’ve been monitoring the situation across the country and it is clear that the current COVIC challenges prevent the original schedule from proceeding as initially planned. We are incredibly grateful to the Queensland Government for agreeing to quarantine the Australian and Indian players and enabling this important series to be played in Queensland. We are also delighted to be bringing our World Champion women’s team to Mackay and regional Queensland.”

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Hockley continued, “Having had to postpone the series last summer due to the pandemic, we are looking forward to hosting an Indian team which boasts some of the best players in the world in this historic series featuring the first-ever day-night Test match between the two sides. We thank everyone involved for their support and cooperation to stage this series safely and look forward to our World Champion Women’s tea launching this massive summer of cricket against a class Indian team.”

The first ODI of this series in Mackay will be an opportunity for the Australian team led by Meg Lanning to extend their record-breaking 24-game ODI winning streak. This match will also be the first time that the two sides have met since the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup at the MCG.

This Commonwealth Bank Women’s series of Australia against India will kick start the international summer season of cricket ahead of the highly anticipated men’s and women’s Ashes Series against England.