Nobody quite knew what to expect when India landed in Australia for this tour. The T20 series came and went and somehow India came out on top. Great result, unexpected for many, brilliant for Indian fans everywhere. Then Australia did what Australia do. They gathered themselves, got back in the shed and came out swinging in the ODIs. Three games later the series was gone from India's hands and Australia had reminded everyone why they are such a nightmare to beat at home. But here is the thing. None of that actually settles the tour. This Test does. One game. Pink ball. The WACA. 6th March 2026. Lights on and everything to play for. Here is our AUS-W vs IND-W Test Match Prediction and we are going deep on this one.

Match Info

Match: AUS-W vs IND-W | Only Test | India Women Tour of Australia 2026 Date: 06 March 2026 Time: 10:50 AM IST | 5:20 AM GMT Venue: W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth Streaming: JioHotstar and Star Sports Network

Australia Women Preview

That T20 series defeat was a shock to the system for Australia. One win from three at home. Their own turf. Against India. That is not something this team is used to and the reaction inside that dressing room must have been sharp. But the thing about this Australian side is they do not mope around. They process it, they get angry about it and then they go out and fix it. The ODIs were the proof of that. First game they came out hard and won it. Second game same story. Third game India barely got a look in. Three from three and suddenly Australia look like a completely different team to the one that stumbled through the T20s.

A lot of that turnaround comes down to the environment Healy has created in this squad. She is not a captain who panics or overthinks things. She trusts her bowlers, sets her fields well and lets the game come to her. At the WACA with a pink ball in hand those bowlers are going to be absolutely lethal. The pace, the bounce, the swing under lights. Every single thing about this ground plays into Australia's hands and they know it better than anyone.

The injury news is the one cloud hanging over their preparation. Molineux is out with a back problem, Garth has done her quad and neither will be available for the Test. Two experienced players gone is a blow no matter how you dress it up. Trenaman and Brown have been called up as cover. Fresh faces, no Test caps between them, but they bring energy and options that could matter if the final XI needs adjusting.

Australia Women Predicted Playing XI: Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Voll, Annabel Sutherland, Alyssa Healy (C), Beth Mooney (WK), Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Ellyse Perry, Darcie Brown.

India Women Preview

Losing three ODIs back to back after winning the T20 series is the kind of thing that can mess with a team's head if they let it. The momentum built from that T20 victory was real and watching it slip away across three one-sided ODI defeats would have been tough on everyone in that squad. Harmanpreet Kaur has been carrying a lot through this tour and walking into a day-night Test at the WACA needing a win is about as high-pressure as it gets.

But here is what makes this interesting. The Test squad is not the same group that struggled through those ODIs. Not even close. Seven players who have never played a Test match before are part of this setup and while that number might make some people nervous, there is another way to read it entirely. These are players who have not been knocked around across this tour. They have not carried the weight of those ODI defeats. They are arriving fresh, full of belief and with nothing in the world to lose. That combination can be genuinely dangerous if the captain channels it right and Harmanpreet is smart enough to do exactly that.

Pratika Rawal is the player everyone is talking about and she has earned that attention. She came back from injury during the white-ball leg of this tour and looked confident and composed throughout. A Test debut at the WACA under the floodlights would be one of those career moments you never forget. From what we have seen of her, she is ready for it.

Renuka Singh Thakur is not here for this one. She played a heavy amount of cricket across the T20s and ODIs and the BCCI medical team stepped in and said she needed rest before the Test. Fair call. Kashvee Gautam steps up in her place. She is 22 years old, she has never pulled on a Test whites before and an opportunity like this does not come around twice. How she grabs it could be the subplot of this entire match. Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare and young left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma are all pushing for debuts too and any one of them could end up being the difference maker.

India Women Predicted Playing XI: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana (VC), Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh (WK), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud.

Pitch Report

There is a reason certain fast bowlers have had some of their best days in Test cricket at the WACA. This ground does things to a cricket ball that other venues simply do not. The pace off the surface is sharper, the bounce comes at you harder and deliveries that look completely harmless on the way down suddenly explode into your gloves or your chest. Batters who come here for the first time almost always say the same thing afterwards. It was quicker than I thought. Even the ones who have been told about it.

Now wrap all of that up in a pink-ball day-night setting. The pink ball under floodlights is a different challenge altogether. It retains its hardness for longer which means the bowlers are not waiting around for reverse swing to bail them out. They can keep attacking with a hard ball for extended spells. It swings later than the red ball, it nips off the seam in unpredictable ways and in the right conditions it can look almost unplayable.

The twilight period is where this Test could be decided. That window of 30 to 40 minutes when the sun drops and the lights slowly take full control is the most dangerous time to bat in any day-night Test anywhere in the world. The ball is practically invisible at certain angles. Edges fly to slip. Batters play all around deliveries they would normally hit with their eyes closed. Whole top orders have fallen apart in that period at venues far less challenging than the WACA. Any team that comes through it with their key batters still at the crease has done themselves an enormous favour.

Once the lights are fully settled and the ball gets older, things do calm down a touch. Scoring becomes more realistic, the big shots come on and good partnerships are possible. But earning that right first is the hard part and not everyone manages it.

Toss Factor