India’s women return to ODI action against Australia in New Chandigarh on Sunday, knowing they have not beaten the visitors at home since 2007. The head-to-head ledger over the past five years reads one win in ten for India, yet captain Harmanpreet Kaur sounds quietly certain: her squad “can beat them on any day”.
“We are a team that has worked hard throughout the year and are improving day by day,” she said. “But Australia have had a good set-up for some years now, and they have been dominating for some years now. We have just come into that race, and have done well in the last one to one-and-a-half years. We were working hard [to beat them before]. But now, we have worked a lot on fielding and fitness, and results are starting to show.”
Key numbers back up the optimism. India have dropped only two of 11 ODIs in 2025, including a 2-1 success in England that sharpened preparations for the home World Cup beginning on 30 September. Shafali Verma’s absence through a finger injury hurts, but the larger core has been together long enough to cover gaps.
“No doubt, they [Australia] have been very dominating, they have played well all over the world and dominated. But we are also as a stage where, as a captain, we have the belief we can beat them on any day,” Harmanpreet said. “The processes in the last one-and-a-half years have been good, we have improved quite a lot. Even in England, we beat one of their best sides. These show that we are on the right track. This group of players has played together for a while now. Everyone knows what they need to do for the team. There is belief that we can beat any team on any day, which is very important. If you have the belief, the results follow.”
Across the aisle, Alyssa Healy sounded both respectful and wary. “It feels like to me in the women’s game, India’s been a bit of a sleeping giant for a long period of time and probably haven’t had the stability that I think they do right now,” she said. “They’re a really dangerous side and I think they’re fully aware of that and what they can do to other teams. We watched them go to England and play some really good cricket and challenge a really good side.
“This is the most stable Indian team I’ve seen and I think they’re in a really good place heading into this World Cup so I’m looking forward to that challenge and like you said, the rivalry continues to grow. I know how much they love beating Australia and I know how good they are in their home conditions and that’s really a challenge for us. I think it’s going to be a really enjoyable, hard-fought series.”
There is a sense that the Women’s Premier League has compressed the learning curve for emerging Indian players. Harmanpreet noticed the change immediately. “I think their [youngsters’] approach has been very special to see, especially as a captain,” Harmanpreet said. “When I look to 4-5 years ago, we’ve been talking about the gap bet” – the sentence trailed off, yet the point was clear: domestic exposure now fast-tracks international readiness.
India’s bowling – led by the experienced quick Renuka Thakur and the ever-crafty spinner Deepti Sharma – will still have to dislodge an Australian line-up stacked with run-makers. Equally, Australia’s seamers must adapt quickly to humid late-monsoon conditions that can sap pace and reward cutters.
Neither camp is shouting from the rooftops, and that feels deliberate. India have belief, Australia carry muscle memory of success, and both understand that early results in this three-match series will echo into a World Cup month away. The rivalry is familiar; the balance of power, perhaps, is not as settled as it once seemed.
