Australia’s Sophie Molineux Sidelined From India Series Due to Back Issue

In the midst of India's all-format tour of Australia, Sophie Molineux encounters a setback just days after making her Australia leadership debut. The captain is still in grave question for the forthcoming Caribbean tour and will miss the rest of the current series against India.

Additionally, Molineux is probably going to be unable to play in the forthcoming series against the West Indian team, where she was expected to captain the team in all formats. Molineux's return to the Australian lineup before the forthcoming Women's T20 World Cup, which will take place in Europe, is something national selector Shawn Legler is keeping upbeat about.

Sophie Molineux Injury Update:

AUS W vs IND W 2026: Australia all-rounder Sophie Molineux ruled out of series with sore back https://t.co/fbKmnF5Se0pic.twitter.com/KzuDNRZO0q

— Global Cric Info (@globalcricinfo) February 27, 2026

The Australian supporters were devastated to learn that Sophie Molineux will not be playing in the second ODI of the three-match series between Australia and India on Friday afternoon at the Ninja Stadium in Hobart. The selector also emphasised that Molineux will be heading to the Caribbean for the forthcoming series, provided she is deemed fully healthy, and that Alyssa Healy will continue to lead the Australians for the next few games. Given the impending international tournament, she would like to get more experience as captain, which she started during the T20Is against India.

After sustaining several injuries during her career, she would miss the rest of the ODI series and the one-time Test match against India because to back pain. The 28-year-old may also miss the forthcoming tour of the West Indies in mid-March, according to national selector Shawn Flegler, though he did not specifically rule her out of the tour at this time.

Channel 7 quotes Flegler saying, "Sophie's developed a bit of lower back pain over the last few days. So unfortunately, that means she's going to miss the rest of the series, and we'll look towards her being available for the West Indies series coming up. So we don't want to take any risks with the T20 World Cup coming up. She's still right to bat, still right to run, but it's just the bowling that she's got a little bit of pain at the moment … we'll get her scanned, and then we'll have to offload her for a little while and that's why we don't want to take any chances with the next few matches coming up."

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