Sri Lanka will host matches at this year’s Women’s World Cup as part of ongoing arrangements surrounding fixtures involving India and Pakistan.
India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the men’s Champions Trophy earlier this year prompted the International Cricket Council (ICC) to introduce neutral venues to tournaments hosted by either nation.
As part of the plans, announced in December, neither country will travel to the other for an ICC event.
The Sri Lankan city of Colombo will join Indian cities Bengaluru, Guwahati, Indore and Visakhapatnam in staging the Women’s World Cup, which runs from 30 September until 2 November.
Colombo will host Pakistan’s seven group games, including against India and England. It will also host a semi-final and the final if Pakistan make it that far.
Bengaluru will stage the opening match, involving India, and the final if Pakistan are not involved. The full list of fixtures for the eight-team tournament is still to be announced.
Australia are the defending World Cup champions, having beaten England in the final of the previous tournament in New Zealand, delayed until 2022 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
One potential problem with the logistical switch could be the weather, with October one of the wetter months of the year in Sri Lanka.
India and Pakistan were not playing each other outside of major tournaments even before the conflict between the two nations last month.
The cricketing tension between the two countries escalated over the Champions Trophy. Even though Pakistan travelled to India for the men’s 50-over World Cup in 2023, India did not make a reciprocal journey earlier this year.
As part of the ICC arrangements, India played their matches in Dubai, going on to win the trophy after playing every fixture at the same venue.
In May, amid cross-border military strikes between the two nations, both the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League were suspended before resuming. The delayed IPL final will be played on Tuesday.
It remains to be seen whether the government of either country will allow their team to take part in a fixture against the other.
It has also been announced that the opening game of next year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in England will be played at Edgbaston on 12 June.
The semi-finals have been confirmed for The Oval. The final will take place at Lord’s on 5 July 2026.
