Recently, the Australian women’s team completely outplayed India in the preceding ODI series but their skipper Meg Lanning feels that the hosts in the Twenty20 tri-series can’t be underestimated, saying all sides are even in T20s. After thrashing India 3-0 in the ODI series, the Australians will take on the hosts in the series opener of the tri-series, which also includes England.

On the eve of the series opener, Lanning said, “India is a very good team in this format, and so is England. So we know that we’ve got to play really well. We’ve definitely got some confidence in our group from the way we’ve played (in the ODIs). But we do understand that it’s a different format and it’s very close in T20 Internationals.”

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The Aussie captain reckons that the series is even and it would be difficult to say which team is better than the other. She described, “Even in the ODI series, they (India) were putting us under the pump. So it’s a very even series. Very difficult to say that one team is ahead of the other two, which is great. By the looks of the wicket and the outfield out there, there are going to be plenty of runs out there.”

Asked whether Australia has an advantage over the others as their players play in Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) Meg said, “Not sure about that. There have been a couple of Indian players over there in the WBBL and they are very dangerous.”

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The skipper also said that the series was an important one leading up to the Women’s T20 World Cup. She said, “It’s a massive series for us, coming up against two massive teams, in these conditions as well. We know we don’t have a lot of cricket between now and the world cup. So we’re really keen to make sure we play very well in this series. And as a bunch, we are going to be tested.”

Lanning also praised young Indian girls Pooja Vastrakar and Mumbai’s Jemimah Rodrigues’ performances in the ODI series. She said, “Rodrigues whacked us around a little bit and made us nervous. Pooja is a very good bowler and has scored a lot of runs as well. It’s exciting for the game to see young Indians coming through. They are someone to keep an eye on.”