India Women tour of Australia: BCCI announces Test squad, Pratika returns after injury

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian women’s Test squad for the Australia tour on Saturday (Jan 24). The tour will begin next month, with India playing three ODIs, three T20Is and one Test match and Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the team. The tour will run from Feb 15 to March 9, 2026 and the first match of the tour will be a T20I in Sydney on Sunday (Feb 15). The BCCI also confirmed that wicketkeeper G. Kamalini has been ruled out of the tour and Uma Chetry has been named as her replacement in both the T20I and ODI squads. Pratika Rawal has also been included in the Test squad after recovering from injury.

Pratika was part of India’s World Cup-winning team and earned her place following strong performances in ODIs. She has scored 1,110 runs in 24 ODI matches, averaging 50.45, with two centuries and seven half-centuries. However, the 25-year-old will not be part of India’s ODI and T20I squads for the Australia tour.

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India’s last Test match was against South Africa in Chennai in mid-2024, where they won by 10 wickets. Their most recent red-ball match against Australia was in December 2023 at Wankhede, which India won by eight wickets.

India's Women's Test squad vs Australia

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana [VC], Shafali Varma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh [WK], Uma Chetry (WK), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Thakur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma and Sayali Satghare

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Meanwhile, the selectors also announced the India A squad for the ACC Rising Star Asia Cup. The team will be led by experienced spinner Radha Yadav and the tournament will be held in Thailand from Feb 13 to 22.

India A squad for ACC Rising Star Asia Cup Team

Humairaa Kaazi, Vrinda Dinesh, Anushka Sharma, Deeya Yadav, Tejal Hasabnis, Nandani Kashyap (wk), Mamta M (wk), Radha Yadav (c), Sonia Mendhiya, Minnu Mani, Tanuja Kanwer, Prema Rawat, Saima Thakor, Jintamani Kalita and Nandani Sharma