CHENNAI: The Indian women’s team’s tour of Bangladesh, where they will be playing three ODIs and as many T20Is, is likely to begin in the first week of July in Mirpur.
The series, of which the 50-over games will be a part of the 2022-25 ICC Women’s ODI Championship cycle, was scheduled to begin in the last week of June as per the Women’s FTP released by the ICC. However, it is understood that the series is likely to begin in the first week of July, coinciding with the white-ball leg of the Afghanistan men’s tour of Bangladesh.
The Afghanistan men will be playing a Test match in Dhaka in June (14-18) after which they might travel to India for a short series which is yet to be confirmed while the Bangladesh tour breaks for Eid-ul-Adha. They will be back in Bangladesh in the first week of July for the white-ball leg in Chattogram (three ODIs from July 5) and Sylhet (two T20Is). With the India-Bangladesh series coinciding, the timings of the women's matches, especially the T20Is, are yet to be finalised.
The Bangladesh tour will be the women’s first international assignment since the 2023 T20 World Cup semifinal defeat against Australia in February. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian team would want to make the most of the tour given that they do not play international matches for at least a few months after the Bangladesh tour. Most of the India senior players, who are under the age of 30, are at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru, for a high performance camp at the moment.
Prior to this series, the India A women’s team will be flying to Hong Kong for the Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup which is scheduled to begin on June 12. India are in Group A with Pakistan A, Thailand A and Hong Kong while Bangladesh A, Sri Lanka A, UAE and Malaysia are in Group B. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals. The India A squad is expected to be announced over the next few days.