Mumbai, May 29 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday confirmed that the Australian women’s team will tour India for a three-match ODI series in September serving as crucial preparation ahead of the Women’s ODI World Cup.

The first ODI of the series will be played on September 14 followed by second and third matches on September 17 and 20 respectively. Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium will host all three matches of the series.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian team will begin their World Cup preparations with a white-ball tour of England, starting on June 28. India are scheduled to face England in five T20Is and three ODIs before playing Australia in a three-match ODI series in September.

The board also announced that the India A men’s team will host Australia and South Africa in two multi-format series, starting in late September. Lucknow will host both multi-day games against Australia while Kanpur will play host to three limited-overs matches.

Interestingly, the BCCI’s recently inaugurated Centre of Excellence will host the two multi-day matches of the South Africa series, marking the first major matches to be held at the venue. The three limited-overs matches between India A and South Africa A will be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The senior men’s Proteas team will also be in India from November 14, engaging in an extensive tour, featuring two Tests, three ODIs and five T20Is.

Ahead of the all-important five-match Test series against England, Abhimanyu Easwaran-led India A will play two first-class matches against the England Lions at Canterbury and Northampton on June 2 and June 9 respectively. The tour will conclude with an intra-squad match against Shubman Gill-led senior side.

–IANS

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