India-South Africa women's cricket series likely to start from March 7

The planned eight-match series between India and South Africa women is likely to be held from March 7, which will mark the return of the home team to competitive cricket after almost 12 months.

The series, comprising five T20Is and three ODIs, is likely to be held in either Lucknow or Kanpur in a bio-bubble, a BCCI official told PTI on Monday. A 22-member Indian team has been picked for the contest.

With the fixtures of the series yet to be announced, a Cricket South Africa (CSA) source confirmed that their team is set to travel to India this week.

"The Covid tests have been done, the team is ready to leave anytime," the source said.

Both teams will have to undergo a six-day quarantine which means they will get a week of training before the series opener. South Africa played recently but India have not played since the T20 World Cup in March last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indian players' only outing since that final in Melbourne was during the exhibition Women's T20 Challenge in Sharjah in November last year.

Since the series will have to be played in a bio-bubble, the team needs to assemble at least two weeks before the first game with six days reserved for quarantine.

"Getting match ready will be a challenge for Indian players but the most important this thing that the series is finally happening. The players needed this badly," said the BCCI official.

The series was earlier supposed to be held at the Greenfield Sports Hub Stadium in Thiruvanthapuram but Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) expressed its inability to stage the matches as stadium owners had a booked an Army recruitment drive on the same dates.