Australia series will be important as we prepare for World Cup: India Women's head coach Amol Muzumdar

After brilliant performances on the England tour, India will look to make a mark in the home ODI series against Australia, starting on Sunday, September 14. The first ODI in the three-match series will be held at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur.

The 2025 Women's ODI World Cup begins on September 30, and it will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The Women in Blue are the favourites to win the marquee event, especially after drawing confidence from a memorable series win in England in July.

India's head coach Amol Muzumdar feels that the series against Australia will provide important preparation for Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. He also mentioned how India defeated England through teamwork, ticking all the boxes.

"I think this is real trailblazer for the World Cup. This is a very important series for us and we are looking forward to the series, playing against one of the top teams in the world. We had a lovely tour to England, we had positive results which we wanted and we are looking forward for the series," Muzumdar said in a virtual press conference.

"In England we had the results, 2-1 in ODIs and we won the T20 series, first ever result in England as far as T20 is concerned. It was a fantastic 40-day tour. We gelled really well, it was a great tam effort. Smriti (Mandhana) got a hundred in Trent Bridge and Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur) got a hundred in Durham. Everyone contributed and that was the takeaway from the series. Radhya Yadav played a key role, Kranti Goud also contributed. All the boxes were ticked," Muzumdar added.

We focus on our preparation and how we gonna execute them: Muzumdar

Muzumdar stressed the importance of his team working together to achieve positive results in their upcoming assignments.

"We have to make huge collective effort to be on the right side of the result," the former Mumbai cricketer stated.

While Muzumdar gave credit to Australia for their dominant display in the sport over the years, he mentioned that his focus is on preparing his team and helping them execute their plans.

"Preparation is the same but yes Australia have been a dominant force for so many years but we focus on our preparation and how we gonna execute them," Muzumdar said.

Talking about the pressure of expectations, Muzumdar said that the team has played several home series in recent times and know how to deal with it.

"It's always going to be pressure playing international cricket and these girls are now used to it. We played a lot of home series in the last few years and we are used to the expectations and the crowd pressure. As a team, we decide by the game and on the day and the combination will depend on this and we are looking forward to this series," he added.