DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the schedule and venues for the 13th edition of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, confirming that Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka under the fusion formula.
The eight-nation tournament will be played from 30 September to 2 November 2025 across five venues in India and Sri Lanka.
Matches will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, ACA Stadium in Guwahati, Holkar Stadium in Indore, ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam, and R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
India will host the Women’s World Cup after a gap of 12 years and will open the tournament against Bangladesh in Bengaluru.
However, Pakistan will not travel to India and will instead play all their group-stage matches in Colombo.
This arrangement follows a “fusion formula” agreed upon earlier this year, whereby both India and Pakistan will play ICC tournament matches at neutral venues if hosted by the other, until at least 2027.
The decision comes after India declined to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, leading to a broader agreement on neutral venues to ensure both nations’ participation without direct travel.
The ICC has also planned two potential venues for the knockout matches, depending on Pakistan’s progress.
The first semi-final will be played on 29 October in either Guwahati or Colombo, while the second semi-final is set for 30 October in Bengaluru.
The final is scheduled for 2 November in Bengaluru but will be shifted to Colombo if Pakistan qualify.
The eight participating teams are India, Pakistan, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
Australia enter the tournament as defending champions, having defeated England in the 2022 final in New Zealand. They are also the most successful team in the tournament’s history, with seven titles.
Pakistan secured their place in the tournament after defeating Thailand by 87 runs in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 Qualifiers held in Lahore in April.
