India to host South Africa women for a Test, three ODIs, T20Is in June-July
Team India celebrates after winning the match on Day 4 of Test match between India (Women) and Australia (Women) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. File | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI India will play host to South Africa women’s team for one Test, three ODIs and three T20Is across June and July. The one-dayers and T20Is will be played in Bengaluru, a Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) official informed, while the Test match will be played at Chennai. The ODIs will be held at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium from June 16, while the one-off Test will start at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium from June 28. The teams will then return to Bengaluru for the T20Is on July 5, 7 and 9 and they will precede the women’s T20 World Cup to be played in Bangladesh in September-October. The white-ball format matches were originally a part of the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) in late 2023, but they had to be pushed ahead because of the 50-over ICC Men’s World Cup held in India last year between October and November. However, the Test match is an addition to the fixture and a part of the initiative by BCCI and Cricket South Africa (CSA) to give more impetus to women’s cricket in the traditional format. It may be recalled that India had played a Test each against England and Australia at Mumbai in December last year. India had beaten England by a massive 347 runs, the largest in women’s Test cricket, and Australia by eight wickets in those matches.