India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav have been rested from the tournament to be played in a round-robin format with 14 players in each of the four squads announced by the All-India Women's Selection Committee.
The real highlight moment of the match was still the catch from Sabbhineni Meghana. The catch came out of nowhere, she gave everything in that attempt and dived forward to take a really brilliant catch and dismissed Aliya Riaz in the 18th over.
India will next face New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Thursday.
The quadrangular tournament will be played at Dr Gokaraju Laila Ganga Raju ACA Cricket Complex-DVR Ground, Vijayawada from December 4 to December 9, the BCCI said in a statement on Saturday.
Batting first, India put up an inept performance, scoring only 118 for nine, largely due to a 37 off 26 balls by Pooja Vastrakar. Australia scored the runs in 19.1 overs, courtesy rookie McGrath (42 not out off 33 balls), who launched into Shikha Pandey's 18th over, getting 14 runs which proved to be a game-changer.
Mandhana picked up a fracture in her right toe and has been replaced by Pooja Vastrakar.
Eyes will also be on 15-year-old opener Shafali Verma, who has been picked in India's T20 squad.
Arothe said that Edulji had questioned him about the team selection during the T20 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
Vastrakar, India’s most capped T20I fast bowler, injured her ankle during a warm-up game against the West Indies.
Powar, the former India off-spinner, who was played 31 ODIs and two Tests, said he has been focussing a lot on the spinners.