India will host the Women's 50-over World Cup in 2025 as the BCCI has successfully bid for the event on Tuesday.
The mega event will return to the country after more than a decade. The last time a women's ICC flagship event was held in India was back in the year 2013. At that time, Team Australia emerged champions after beating the West Indies by 114 runs in the final in Mumbai.
The 50 over Women's World Cup has been a stand-alone event since its inception in 1973, two years before the men's mega event started in England in 1975.
India hosted the event thrice in the following years:
- 1978
- 1997
- 2013
Three other ICC women's events were also awarded on the day with Bangladesh hosting the 2024 T20 World Cup and England winning hosting rights for the 2026 edition.
The inaugural T20 Champions Trophy in 2027 will be hosted by Sri Lanka.
"We were keen on hosting the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 and we are glad we have won the hosting rights for this marquee clash on the women's calendar," BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was quoted.
"The sport has undergone tremendous transformation since then. The popularity of women’s cricket is rapidly rising, and this is a step in the right direction. The BCCI will work closely with the ICC and fulfil all the requirements."
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said: "We are taking several steps to raise the profile of the sport right from the grassroots level and hosting the World Cup will further boost the popularity of the sport in the country.
"The BCCI remains committed to women’s cricket in India. We have the infrastructure in place, and I am confident we will have a very successful edition of the World Cup."
In the 2025 Women's World Cup, the hosts and five top nations from ICC Women's Championship (IWC) 2022-2025 will get direct entry into the tournament.
The remaining two teams will be identified through a global Qualifier comprising six teams. Out of six teams in the Qualifier, four will be from the IWC (rankings after the top five teams) and the other two will be selected according to the ICC Women's ODI Team Rankings.
The Other Key Decisions:
- The ICC Board approved both the men's and women's Future Tours Programme (FTP) from 2023 to 2027 and these will be published in the coming days.
- VVS Laxman has been appointed to the ICC Men's Cricket Committee as current player representative alongside former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori.
- The Board approved the process to elect the next Chairman of the ICC which will take place in November 2022. The election will be decided by a simple majority unlike earlier years when two-third majority was a must.
- Cambodia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan are new ICC Associate Members
(Inputs from PTI)
