(Cricket news) India lost the 3 match W-ODI series against Australia by 2-1. Even though India lost the series, they did break Australia's highest winning streak of 26 wins. There are a lot of positives for Mithali Raj's team to build on and prepare for the World Cup in March 2022.

India's formidable opening partnership:

So much of the success of the Indian batting unit depends on their openers. Smriti Mandhana and Shefali Verma have become a fruitful opening pair of India in such a short time. The two batter's are still 25 and 17 years of age respectively which is a projection of the heights they can help Indian cricket reach. Mandhana and Verma are first choice openers in all 3 formats and the two rarely disappoint. 

38-year-old Jhulan Goswami still on top : 

At the age of 38 having played International cricket for over 19 years, Jhulan Goswami is still going strong. Even after suffering multiple injuries on 4 different body parts the seamer still delivers at the highest level. Leading the Indian bowling attack Goswami thrives on the responsibility given to her. She took 4 wickets in the series but her contribution was so much more than the wickets. Other bowlers Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Sneh Rana, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma provided adequate support but Goswami led the pack really well. Now retired from W-T20s Goswami can fully concentrate on the Test match coming up and eventually the W-ODI World Cup.

Harmanpreet Kaur's absence:

India's vice captain injured her thumb before the series and was officially ruled out of the 1st W-ODI. She didn't play the next 2 games and there was no news on her fitness. Harmanpreet Kaur hasn't been in the best of forms for a while now but a big knock is always just around the corner with a player like Harmanpreet. Her replacement/s Pooja Vastrakar and Yastika Bhatia have performed incredibly well which makes her comeback in the side very complicated. A big performance in the W-T20Is as a captain will put any doubts of her selection to rest and that is exactly what the hard hitting batter will be hoping for.

Also read: India win last over thriller to end Australia's winning W-ODI streak