ICC Women's World Cup 2025 Archives

Pakistan to play in Sri Lanka as ICC unveils Women’s World Cup dates, venues

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially unveiled the dates and venues for the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, confirming that Pakistan will play all of their matches in Sri Lanka.

The marquee tournament is set to take place from September 30 to November 2, with matches spread across five venues in India and Sri Lanka.

The selected venues for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 include M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru), ACA Stadium (Guwahati), Holkar Stadium (Indore), ACA-VDCA Stadium (Visakhapatnam), and R. Premadasa Stadium (Colombo).

As per the ‘fusion formula,’ a diplomatic arrangement adopted in the lead-up to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan and India will not travel to each other’s territory for ICC events for the next three years.

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Consequently, Pakistan’s matches will be held exclusively in Colombo, marking the neutral venue agreement in action. The knockout stage of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 is also structured with this arrangement in mind.

The first semi-final will be held either in Guwahati or Colombo on October 29, while Bengaluru will host the second semi-final a day later.

The final is scheduled for November 2 in Bengaluru, but if Pakistan qualify, the championship clash will shift to Colombo.

Eight teams will contest the 13th edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup — hosts India and Sri Lanka, alongside Pakistan, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, and Bangladesh.

Defending champions Australia will enter the tournament as favourites, having clinched their seventh title in the previous edition by defeating England in the final in 2022.

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‘Not interested in playing in India’: Pakistan’s Gull Feroza on World Cup 2025 participation

Pakistan’s women’s team opener, Gull Feroza, has made a bold statement about the national team’s participation in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, which is scheduled to be held in India.

While India is the official host of the upcoming tournament, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has confirmed that the national women’s team will not be traveling to the country.

“Pakistan’s participation in the next global competition would adhere to the Fusion Formula [the same structure decided upon before the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025],” Mohsin Naqvi said.

While speaking to a digital platform, Gull Feroza expressed her disinterest in playing in India.

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“We know that it will be Asian conditions and we are not playing the [World Cup] in India, this is clear. Neither we are interested in playing in India,” she remarked.

“We hope that we will play in Sri Lanka or Dubai, and the conditions will be the same for us as they are here in [Pakistan],” she added.

Gull Feroza made her ODI debut for the Pakistan team in the recently concluded ICC Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

It is worth mentioning that Pakistan remained undefeated in the qualifying tournament, winning five matches in a row. The women’s team displayed all-around dominance and were placed at the top of the table.

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With dominant victories, Pakistan secured their spot in the World Cup, to be held later this year in India. Following an impressive performance, Fatima Sana was named captain of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier Team of the Tournament.

The team selected by a panel of event commentators, including Andrew Leonard, Marina Iqbal, Kainat Imtiaz, and Joel Manning, featured four players from the Pakistan team.

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Pakistan name squad for ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 Qualifiers

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced a 15-member squad for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 Qualifiers, set to take place from 9 to 19 April at the Gaddafi Stadium and LCCA ground in Lahore.

The squad was selected by the Women’s National Selection Committee after evaluating players’ fitness and form in the ongoing second phase of the preparation camp, where the players took part in warm-up matches and practice sessions.

Fatima Sana, who has led Pakistan in six T20Is and two ODIs, will continue to lead the women’s cricket team in the 50-over event, while Shawaal Zulfiqar makes a comeback to the national side after suffering from a shoulder injury during the tour of New Zealand in December 2023.

The six-team ICC event, which includes Bangladesh, Ireland, Scotland, Thailand and West Indies alongside hosts Pakistan, will feature a single-league round-robin format.

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Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and LCCA ground will host 15 matches of the event, with Pakistan playing Ireland in the opening match of the competition at the Gaddafi Stadium.

On 11 April, Pakistan will play Scotland at the LCCA ground in a day game, while the hosts will take on West Indies in a day-night fixture on 14 April at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Pakistan will face Thailand in their fourth fixture of the event scheduled on 17 April in a day-night fixture at Gaddafi Stadium, while their final group stage match will be against Bangladesh on 19 April at the LCCA ground, which will be a day match.

Pakistan squad for Women’s World Cup 2025 Qualifiers

Fatima Sana (captain), Muneeba Ali (vice-captain), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Gull Feroza, Najiha Alvi (wicket-keeper), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz (wicket-keeper) and Syeda Aroob Shah

Reserve players: Ghulam Fatima, Waheeda Akhtar and Umm-e-Hani

Player support personnel: Hina Munawar (manager), Muhammad Wasim (head coach), Junaid Khan (assistant coach bowling), Abdul Rehman (assistant coach spin bowling), Abdul Saad (assistant coach fielding), Waleed Ahmed (analyst), Muhammad Rafi Ullah (media manager), Muhammad Ramzan (strength and conditioning coach), Tehreem Sumbal (physiotherapist) and Kiran Shahzadi (masseuse)

Pakistan fixtures:

vs Ireland – 9 April, Gaddafi Stadium (9:30 AM)

vs Scotland – 11 April, LCCA (9:30 AM)

vs West Indies – 14 April, Gaddafi Stadium (2:00 PM)

vs Thailand – 17 April, Gaddafi Stadium (2:00 PM)

vs Bangladesh – 19 April, LCCA (9:30 AM)

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‘We want to qualify directly for the World Cup’ Bismah Maroof

KARACHI: Pakistan National Women’s Cricket Team’s captain Bismah Maroof expressed her goal to qualify directly for the next International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Cup 2025.

Bismah interacted with the media in the scheduled press conference ahead of the ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and revealed her target for her team to benefit from the ongoing ICC Women’s Championship and qualify directly for the next world cup.

“This series is a part of the ICC Women’s Championship so it is very important for us and every point in this championship is vital for us as we want to qualify directly for the next world cup,” Bismah stated.

“We are getting the opportunities to compete with the top side because of the ICC Women’s Championship as usually, we used to compete with them only in World Cups,” she maintained.

The Pakistani skipper further opined about the team’s bowling department and credited the bowling coach Saleem Jaafer for the improvement while also stressing the need of strengthening the domestic structure.

“Our bowling department has improved under the coaching of Saleem Jaffer. We, however, are in dire need to strengthen our domestic structure as it will help us to prepare the young players for the big level,” she claimed.

The skipper also provided an update on the fitness of the left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu, stating “Nashra Sandhu is recovering from her injury.”

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI home series with the matches taking place on June 1, 3, and 5 respectively at Southend Club.

READ: Trophy for Pakistan-Sri Lanka Women’s ODI series unveiled

ICC announces qualification pathway for 2025 Women’s World Cup

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday, announced to expand the upcoming ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 and the qualification pathway for the 2025 Women’s World Cup.

In an official statement, the cricket governing body announced the inclusion of ninth-ranked Bangladesh and tenth-ranked Ireland, in an attempt to foster the growth of the women’s game.

With the inclusion of the two new teams, the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 will now feature 10 teams. Each team will play eight three-match series (four home and four away) over the next three years.

The latest edition of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 announced!

All you need to know 👇

— ICC (@ICC) May 25, 2022

The top five teams after the conclusion of the cycle, the top five teams and the host of the 2025 Women’s World Cup will qualify for the mega event. Whereas, the remaining teams will then have to go through the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

It is pertinent to mention here that Australia, having won the last two cycles of the Women’s Championship, will defend their title in the upcoming world cup. The 2022-25 ICC Women’s Championship will begin with the upcoming ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, scheduled from June 1 to June 5 in Karachi.

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