One Test match. Pink ball. WACA. Perth. 6th March 2026. If that does not get you excited then honestly nothing will. This India Women tour of Australia 2026 has had plenty of twists already. India turned up and took the T20 series which surprised a lot of people. Then Australia got their act together in the ODIs and made it look easy, won all three and sent a very clear message. But none of that fully settles things. This Test is where it really counts and both sides know it. Here is our complete AUS-W vs IND-W Test Match Prediction along with everything else you need ahead of 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
Losing a T20 series at home is never a good look. Australia know that better than anyone. One win from three games on their own patch against India was not what they had planned and you could see it frustrated them. What happened next though was very Australia. They went quiet, regrouped and then came out in the ODIs and played like a completely different team. Three games, three wins, job done. The way they flipped that switch says a lot about the character in that dressing room.
Healy has been the steady hand through all of it. She reads the game well, backs her players and her pace bowling attack at the WACA is going to be a real handful for whoever faces them. This is home turf for Australia in every sense. They know what this ground does, they know how to use it and their seamers have been waiting for conditions like this.
On the downside, Molineux is ruled out with a back concern and Garth is also gone after picking up a quad injury during the tour. You never want to lose experienced players going into a Test match but the squad still has enough. Trenaman and Brown have come in as uncapped cover and while neither has played Test cricket before, their presence adds options.
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
Three ODI losses after winning the T20 series. That is a painful way to go through a tour and Harmanpreet Kaur will be the first to admit it has not gone to plan. The batting has looked shaky at times, the bowling has not quite clicked either and now the team walks into the WACA for a pink-ball Test needing to find something they have not shown enough of in the ODIs.
What works in India's favour though is that this squad is genuinely different. Seven uncapped Test players in one squad is a bold call from the selectors but there is logic behind it. These players have not been beaten up across this tour. They are fresh, they are hungry and they have absolutely nothing to lose. Sometimes that is the most dangerous combination in cricket.
Pratika Rawal is the one everyone keeps talking about and for good reason. She looked sharp and confident through the white-ball matches after returning from injury and a Test debut at the WACA would be a real moment. Big ground, big occasion, big player in the making.
Renuka is sitting this one out. The BCCI medical team called it after she featured heavily across both formats during the tour. Kashvee Gautam gets the nod in her place. Twenty two, no Test caps yet and a serious opportunity sitting right in front of her. Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare and young left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma are also knocking hard on that door for their first Test caps.
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
Walk up to any seasoned fast bowler and whisper WACA in their ear and watch their eyes light up. There is no other ground quite like it in Australia. The pace off the surface is sharper, the bounce is more awkward and the ball does things here that it simply does not do elsewhere. Now throw in a pink ball, day-night conditions and the floodlights on full beam and you have got yourself one of the most challenging batting environments in women's Test cricket.
The twilight period is the real danger zone. That 30 to 40 minute window when the natural light is fading but the ground lights have not fully compensated yet is when batting gets genuinely uncomfortable. The pink ball starts swinging, the seamers get into their groove and wickets fall in clusters. Teams that survive that window with a solid batting lineup still intact are usually the ones that go on to post competitive totals.
After those spells pass and the lights fully settle in, the surface does get a little more predictable. It stays quick but a batter who is in can play their shots. Getting to that stage without losing four or five wickets though is the challenge every batter faces at this ground.
Toss Factor
No captain in their right mind bats first at the WACA in a pink-ball Test. Bowling first here is not just the preferred option, it is practically the only logical one. Hit the pitch early, exploit the extra pace and bounce that comes with a fresh surface, bowl in that twilight period when the pink ball is doing its best work and put the opposition under maximum pressure before they find their feet. Toss is absolutely massive in this game and it plays a huge role in our AUS-W vs IND-W Test Match Prediction.
Head to Head in Tests
Total Matches: 11 Australia Women Won: 4 India Women Won: 1 Draws: 6
First Test: 28 to 30 January 1984 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. Result: Draw. Most Recent Test: 21 to 24 December 2023 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Result: India Women won by 8 wickets.
Recent Test Form
Australia Women: W W L W D India Women: W W W D D
Before anyone writes India off based on the ODI results, have a look at that recent Test form. Three wins from their last five matches and the last time they played a Test against Australia, they won by 8 wickets. That was in Mumbai in December 2023 and it was not even close. Form in one format does not always carry over and India's Test cricket over the past couple of years has been seriously impressive.
Weather Report
Temperature: 34 to 37 degrees Celsius during the day | 22 degrees at night Humidity: 33 to 35 percent Wind Speed: 13 to 21 KPH from the South Rain Probability: 0 percent
Clear skies all the way through. No interruptions expected which means the full game is on. The Fremantle Doctor tends to come through in the afternoons and that southerly breeze can get the ball swinging nicely for bowlers who know how to use it. Another small but useful advantage for the team bowling first.
AUS-W vs IND-W Test Match Prediction
Scenario 1: Australia win the toss, put India in to bat and their seamers go to work. India manage somewhere around 250 to 300. Australia track it down and win the Test.
Scenario 2: India call it right at the toss, elect to bowl and immediately put Australia under the pump. Australia are bowled out for 260 to 280. India chase it down in the second innings and take the win.
Both roads lead to the same conclusion in our AUS-W vs IND-W Test Match Prediction. Bowl first, exploit the WACA conditions and the toss winning captain has a genuine head start in this match.
Betting Tips
Toss Prediction: India Women to win the toss and bowl first. Betting Tip: Back the team that bowls first. That is the clearest edge going into this game.
Match Winning Percentage
India Women: 50% Australia Women: 20% Draw: 30%
Right, final word on our AUS-W vs IND-W Test Match Prediction. Australia have everything going for them on paper. Home ground, local conditions, crowd support, ODI momentum. Totally fair points. But cricket has a funny way of not caring about what happened in the previous format. India's Test record is strong, this squad has fresh energy and Harmanpreet Kaur will have her team fired up and ready to go.
Win the toss, bowl first and let those hungry uncapped players run in hard. That is the plan for India and if it comes off, this tour ends on a very different note to what the ODIs suggested.
India Women get our backing for this one.
Disclaimer: This AUS-W vs IND-W Test Match Prediction is based entirely on personal analysis and expert opinion. Please treat it as a guide only and make your own informed decisions before placing any bets.
