India Women will host Zimbabwe Women this month for a series that is historic simply by existing: the two nations have never previously faced each other in international cricket, in any format. The tour, confirmed as part of the BCCI's wider home-season fixture list, brings three T20Is to Raipur on October 16, 18 and 20, followed by three ODIs in Baroda on October 23, 25 and 28.
Bilateral cricket between the two women's teams has simply never happened before, which makes this as much a scheduling landmark as a cricketing one. For Zimbabwe, it is a rare assignment against one of the sport's established powers; for India, it is a chance to blood squad depth in a series carrying lower pressure than fixtures against Australia or England, while still banking ranking-relevant results.
The three-match ODI leg in Baroda forms part of the ICC Women's Championship 2025-29 cycle, the qualification pathway that feeds into the next 50-over World Cup, giving the series tangible stakes beyond a one-off bilateral curiosity. The T20I leg in Raipur carries no equivalent points structure but will still shape squad combinations heading into the ODIs that follow.
Zimbabwe Women travel to India having just finished a home series against West Indies Women in Harare, where they played three T20Is and three ODIs across late September and early October — the same two-format structure they now switch into against India, just with a change of continent and opponent. That tour has not gone well for the hosts, who sit low in the ICC Women's Championship standings heading into this next assignment, which makes the step up in opposition quality for this trip to India a significant one.
Neither board had confirmed full squads for this series at the time of writing, so specific team news — including who captains each side and which fringe players get a look-in across six matches in two formats — will only become clear closer to the Raipur opener. What is already set is the shape of the tour itself: a short, two-city trip that gives India Women six matches of varied-stakes cricket before the calendar turns to its next assignment, and gives Zimbabwe Women their first taste of bilateral cricket against one of the group's top sides.
More women's cricket coverage is available on SportGod's blog, with live scores from Raipur and Baroda on SportGod's live matches page and fantasy team-building tools on SportGod's free games.
Series dates, venues and the Women's Championship context in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting, current as of October 6, 2026; squads for both sides were not yet confirmed at the time of writing.
Try Sport God AI live
Live scores, AI predictions, and fantasy — free during IPL 2026.