India return to action after Women's T20 World Cup, to host South Africa in Lucknow

After the Women's T20 World Cup, the Indian side is all set to host South Africa in the eight-match limited-overs series and the matches will take place in Lucknow at Ekana stadium.

The Women's CricZone reported on Tuesday that the tour would consist of five One-Day Internationals and three T20 Internationals and would commence from March 7 in the Uttar Pradesh capital.

A 22-member Indian team has been picked for the contest and both sides are expected to arrive at the venue and enter a bio-bubble from February 25, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) reported.

Both teams will undergo a six-day quarantine period and will then get a week of training before the series opener. While South Africa have played cricket, India have not been in action since the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in March last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

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