England women set to tour India in December; To play 3 T20Is and one Test - Reports

The entire England women's tour of India series is expected to be played in Maharashtra itself.

England women’s team is set to travel to India in December this year for a series of 3 T20Is and a one-off Test match. This one-off Test match will be the first one to be played in India since 2014. According to reports from Cricinfo, the entire tour will be staged in Maharashtra.

Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium will host the India vs England women's Test match, which will be a four-day affair from December 14-17. The T20Is will be held at the Wankhede Stadium on December 6, 9 and 10. The consecutive T20Is in a weekend is an attempt to maximize crowds.

These dates are tentative and are waiting to be confirmed by the boards of the two countries.

England are due to arrive in India in early December, though some players may arrive a day or two later if they are engaged in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) final on December 2. The WBBL features 15 English players, with at least one from each club.

"The opportunity to come and play a Test match in India is bucket-list stuff for a lot of players. I've been in India for a couple of weeks now and you can see that girls have role models in that team now,” Kate Cross, the England seamer, told ESPNCricinfo.

If it's well advertised, people will come and watch: Kate Cross on women’s cricket popularity in India

England women last toured India in 2019, losing 2-1 in the ODI leg of the tour at the Wankhede before winning the T20I series 3-0 in Guwahati.

"We played in front of over 12,000 people in Guwahati. The chance to come back here and play as an England team again is going to be special. The WPL [Women's Premier League] has obviously helped with the growth of the women's game. After the summer we've just had with the Ashes, you want to be playing in front of big crowds and there is an appetite for the women's game in India that just keeps growing. If it's well advertised, people will come and watch,” Cross added.

England's women last played a Test in India in 2005, and India have only hosted one women's Test in the 18 years since: an innings win for India over South Africa in 2014.

The tour will also feature an England A series in Mumbai, likely to comprise three T20s in Mumbai starting in late November