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The International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed the dates and venues for the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup, with Pakistan set to play its matches in Sri Lanka, read a statement issued on Monday.
The announcement included crucial details for two major women’s global tournaments — the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 and the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 — both of which will be hosted by India and England within a span of roughly nine months.
Speaking about the developments, ICC Chairman Jay Shah said, “We are thrilled to announce the dates and venues for two key global women’s tournaments. Fans have shown tremendous support for the women’s game, and we are confident these tournaments will build on the momentum we’ve gathered in recent years and elevate the sport to even greater heights.”
The 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup will be played from September 30 to November 2 at five venues: M Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru), ACA Stadium (Guwahati), Holkar Stadium (Indore), ACA-VDCA Stadium (Visakhapatnam), and R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The tournament will feature eight teams competing in a round-robin format with 28 league matches.
India, which last hosted an ICC global women’s event in 2016, will kick off the tournament in Bengaluru. The venues for the knockout rounds, including the semifinals and final, are contingent upon Pakistan qualifying. Two alternative venues, Bengaluru and Colombo, have been selected for the semifinals and final.
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The final is set for November 2, with the first semifinal scheduled for October 29 in either Guwahati or Colombo, and the second semifinal on October 30 in Bengaluru. Colombo will host the first semifinal and final only if Pakistan qualifies for these stages.
Last month, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi had clarified that Pakistan’s Women’s Cricket Team would not be travelling to India to play the World Cup.
Naqvi said that an agreement had already been made regarding this decision, stating, “India is the host, and they will decide where to play, but we are ready to play at any neutral venue other than India.”
The statement came amid ongoing tensions over bilateral cricket ties. India had refused to travel to Pakistan for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, scheduled from February 19 to March 9, and played its matches in Dubai, a model previously used during the 2023 Asia Cup.
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Following months of negotiations, both boards agreed on a hybrid model to resolve the deadlock. According to ESPNcricinfo, the model allows India to play at neutral venues for ICC tournaments hosted by Pakistan, and vice versa.
“This agreement applied to the 2025 men’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan, the 2025 women’s ODI World Cup in India, and the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka,” the report said. Under the arrangement, neutral venues are proposed by the host board and must be approved by the ICC.
