India Women to begin World Cup preparation with Visakhapatnam training camp

India Women will launch their World Cup preparation with a skill-based week-long conditioning camp in Visakhapatnam starting August 25.

The venue for the camp is strategic, given only Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Sneh Rana among the squad members have the experience of having played at the ACA-VDCA Stadium previously, in 2014.

India are slated to play two big matches in Visakhapatnam: against South Africa (October 9) and Australia (October 12).

India's lack of experience at certain venues, like Visakhapatnam, Guwahati and Indore, has been a big talking point in the lead-up to their campaign.

Navi Mumbai's inclusion as Bengaluru's replacement is seen as a welcome step, given the players' familiarity with the venue, having played there regularly over the past three-four years in front of packed houses, both in international cricket as well in the Women's Premier League.

Originally scheduled to take place entirely in Bengaluru, the training sessions had to be relocated after the Karnataka State Cricket Association failed to secure police clearance for hosting matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

All members of the World Cup squad, along with the reserves and the India A team selected for warm-up fixtures, are expected to participate.

The camp will culminate with two intra-squad day-night practice matches, before the team flies out to New Chandigarh for the ODI series against Australia starting September 16.

After the Australia series, the Indian team will arrive in Bengaluru to play two World Cup warm-ups, against England (September 25) and New Zealand (September 27) before flying out to Guwahati for their opening fixture against Sri Lanka on September 30.