India hand ODI debut to Richa Ghosh, who replaces Taniya Bhatia as wicketkeeper in Mackay
Australia chose to bowl vs India
Australia have won the toss and opted to send India in on a fresh surface in Mackay for the opening ODI of the multi-format series.
Australia captain Meg Lanning, playing her 200th game for Australia, had no hesitation in bowling first. India captain Mithali Raj confirmed she would have done the same had the coin fallen her way. Both sides will unveil debutants.
Hannah Darlington, 19, will become the third indigenous woman to play ODI cricket for Australia after being named to make her debut. The NSW and Sydney Thunder seamer was handed her cap by fellow indigenous player Ashleigh Gardner.
It will be just the second time since 2012 that Australia has fielded an ODI XI without Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen. Schutt is on parental leave while Jonassen is recovering from a leg injury.
Speedster Darcie Brown also gets her chance to impress while Tayla Vlaeminck is rested for the ODI leg of the series.
India have named three debutants. Left-hand batter Yastika Bhatia has been confirmed as Harmanpreet Kaur’s replacement after the vice-captain was ruled out yesterday following a blow on the thumb at training. The 21-year-old looks set to bat at No. 3 after making a 42-ball 41 in the warm-up game in Brisbane on Saturday. Raj is set to stay at No. 4 despite batting at No. 3 in the practice match.
Richa Ghosh makes her ODI debut with the gloves after playing nine T20Is in her short career to date, replacing the more experienced wicketkeeper, Taniya Bhatia, while 27-year-old pace bowler Meghna Singh will represent India for the first time with Shikha Pandey left out.
India didn’t pick any left-arm spinners in their XI, with wristspinner Poonam Yadav and offspin-bowling allrounders Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana making up the spin attack.
Australia XI: Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy (wk), Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Hannah Darlington, Darcie Brown
India XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia, Mithali Raj (c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Poonam Yadav
Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo