All you need to know: India v Australia T20I series

With the one-off Test and three one-dayers done and dusted, Australia and India have moved to Navi Mumbai and turned their attention to the shortest format, with a three-game series to be played at DY Patil Stadium starting Friday.

Series facts   

Who: India v Australia 

What: Three-match T20I series

When: January 5, 7 and 9 (12.30am January 6, 8 and 10 AEDT)

Where: DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai 

How to watch in Australia: Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports 

Live scores: Match Centre 

Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au, the CA Live app, the Scoop Podcast   

Match times: Toss: 6.30pm local (12am AEDT) | First ball: 7pm local (12.30am AEDT)

The Squads 

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Kanika Ahuja, Minnu Mani

Grace Harris has now joined the Australians in India and after an explosive arrival in the nets at Australian training during the one-day series, is making a bid for a return to the Aussie XI. It is expected Beth Mooney will resume her T20 role at the top of the order alongside Alyssa Healy, with Phoebe Litchfield shuffling down into the middle. Australia will also need to weigh up their best spin combination for the thee-game series. Georgia Wareham and fellow leggie Alana King featured in Australia's most recent T20I against the West Indies in October, with Jess Jonassen the one to miss out. Darcie Brown is also set to come into calculations after being rested in the final ODI. 

India named an unchanged 16-player T20 squad from the one that lost to England 2-1 in early December. It includes plenty of familiar faces for the Australians, alongside recent T20 debutants Titas Sandhu and Kanika Ahuja.

Recent form

Australia won their most recent T20I series on home soil 2-1 against West Indies in October, overcome by a rampant Hayley Matthews in the second game of the series.

But this will be a tough assignment for the Aussies, who went down 2-1 in the T20I leg of the Ashes in July. 

India's most recent T20I series was against England at Wankhede Stadium in early December, where they lost the first two matches before bouncing back in the third. 

Last time they met 

Australia and India's last showdown in the 20-over format was one for the ages: a thrilling T20 World Cup semi-final in Cape Town last February. On that occasion at Newlands, Australia posted posted 4-172 batting first thanks to Beth Mooney (54 off 37), Meg Lanning (49 off 34) and Ashleigh Gardner (31 off 18). 

India were in early trouble t 3-28 in reply but rallied via a 69-run stand between Harmanpreet Kaur (53 off 34) and Jemimah Rodrigues (43 off 24). At one point they needed just 41 from 34 deliveries, but Kaur's unlucky run out, which came as her bat stuck in the crease, triggered a collapse of 4-29. Fielding brilliance by the Aussies led by Ellyse Perry, and superb bowling at the death from Jess Jonassen and Gardner were all instrumental in securing a five-run win. 

The last T20I series between the teams was here in Mumbai in December 2022, when Australia won 4-1, but that series was closer than the scoreline suggested, with India's win coming via a Super Over. 

Australia have won four out of five bilateral T20I series against India, whose only win came on Australian soil in 2016. 

Head-to-head 

Overall in T20Is: Australia 23 wins, India 7 wins 

At DY Patil: Australia 1, India 1 

The bigger picture

The next edition of the T20 World Cup will be held in Bangladesh in September-October. For both teams, this is an ideal chance to finetune their plans for that tournament in subcontinent conditions. For Australia, it is also a chance to re-find their groove in the format after losing three of their past six T20 matches. 

The multi-format tour

Australia's tour of India features one Test, three ODIs and three T20Is - but unlike the last multi-format tour of Australia in 2021, it is NOT points-based and the teams are not playing for the 'India/Australia series trophy'.

Australia had claimed the first-ever multi-format series between the rivals 11-5 on home soil in October 2021.

Australia's CommBank Tour of India

Test match: India won by eight wickets

First ODI: Australia won by six wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by three runs

Third ODI: Australia won by 190 runs

January 5: First T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

January 7: Second T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

January 9: Third T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Lauren Cheatle (Test only), Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris (T20s only), Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Shubha Satheesh, Harleen Deol, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar