‘Our T20I form not where we’d have liked it to be’ – Lanning

Meg Lanning, the Australia captain, is expecting an evenly-matched and entertaining Twenty20 International triangular series with India and England, starting with the series opener at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium against the home side on Thursday 22 March.

Australia head into the series on the back of a dominant show in the one-day international series, which they swept 3-0. Australia won each of those matches with big margins, but Lanning feels the scoreline doesn’t reflect how hard fought the contests were.

“We played well, that’s for sure. But India certainly pushed us, we didn’t have it all our own way in the ODI series,” she said. “We were really keen to start the series well, and just as keen to finish it off in style. We’re very happy with that ODI series, we made some good strides forward in the way we want to play and it was great way to come into this T20I series.”

Lanning, however, doesn’t think the Australian T20I side is where she had hoped they would be – in November, they lost a three-match T20I series to England 2-1.

“Our T20I form hasn’t been where we’d have liked over the past few years,” she said. “We’ve spoken about wanting to make sure we get the style and the play the way we want to. This series is a good opportunity to do that. We’ve got some work to do from where we’ve been, but I think the group and the space we’re in at the moment, it can get no better. I think everyone’s in form, and everyone understands their role really well.”

All the premier Australian players are a part of the Women’s Big Bash League, as is the case with England, while India have only had sparse representation over the years at the tournament.

The Australia captain, however, is quick to play down the perceived advantage. “I’m not sure about that,” she said. “There have been a couple of Indian players at the WBBL, and we’ve seen them be very dangerous. Even throughout the ODI series they were putting us under the pump a fair bit.

“I think it’s a very even series, and it’s difficult to say which team is ahead of the other two – it’s great, makes for some entertaining cricket. By the looks of the wicket and the outfield, there’s going to be plenty of runs.”

With the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018 fast approaching – it will be held in the Caribbean in November – Lanning is hoping to make the most of this series by way of preparation. “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 well in this series,” she said.

“The main thing over here is adapting. The T20 format is so important, for flexibility and making sure we adapt to the situation of the game and the conditions. That’s what we’re really going to do. We’ve got many different options with good players in form, so we’re very confident that no matter who goes in with the bat or ball, they’ll do the job for us.”