ICC announces 2025 Women's World Cup schedule; India vs Pakistan to be played in Colombo

The ICC has announced the schedule for the upcoming 2025 Women's World Cup. The marquee tournament is set to begin on September 30 later this year and will be played in Sri Lanka and India.

The 2025 Women's World Cup will be hosted across five cities in Sri Lanka and India. It will run in the two countries from September 30 to November 2.

Hosts Sri Lanka and India will play the opening match of the tournament on September 30 in Bengaluru. Australia, who are the defending champions, will begin their campaign against New Zealand on October 1 in Indore.

The five cities hosting the tournament are - Bengaluru, Vizag, Indore, Guwahati, and Colombo. Bengaluru will play host to one semifinal while the other will be played in either Colombo or Guwahati. The final will be played in either Bengaluru or Colombo on November 2.

It will be a single round-robin format, with the top four teams out of eight making it to the semifinals. The first semifinal will be played on October 29 while the second will be played on October 30.

Below is the schedule for the 2025 Women's World Cup, posted by ICC on its Instagram handle -

India, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are the eight participating teams in the 2025 Women's World Cup.

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India vs Pakistan 2025 Women's World Cup clash to be played in Colombo

The marquee clash between India and Pakistan at the 2025 Women's World Cup will be played in Colombo. Earlier, the Indian men's team had refused to travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, following which India's matches were played in Dubai, including their clash against Pakistan.

Therefore, the two nations, across men's and women's cricket, will play their matches only at neutral venues going forward. The game between India and Pakistan in the upcoming 2025 Women's World Cup is the sixth match of the group stage.

The two teams will thus face off in Colombo on October 5. So far in Women's ODIs, India and Pakistan have played each other 11 times in the past. The Women in Blue hold the upper hand and have dominated, having won all 11 matches while Pakistan are yet to beat their arch-rivals in a Women's ODI fixture.