Pakistan to play Women’s World Cup in Sri Lanka as per fusion formula

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the schedule and venues on Monday, with Pakistan to play all their matches in Sri Lanka in the 13th edition of the Women’s Cricket World Cup as per the fusion formula.

Fusion formula states that both arch-rival — Pakistan and India — will not visit each others’ countries for an ICC event for the next three years and will instead play their matches at a neutral venue. Hence, Pakistan will play all their group stage matches in Sri Lanka.

The World Cup would begin from September 30 to November 2 across five venues in India and Sri Lanka as per the announcement by ICC.

The shortlisted venues for the eight-team tournament included: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru; ACA Stadium in Guwahati; Holkar Stadium in Indore; ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam and R. Premdasa Stadium in Colombo.

As a result, the first semi-final of the eight-team tournament would be played either in Guwahati or Colombo on October 29, while the subsequent knockout fixture would take place in Bengaluru the following day.

The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 final was scheduled to be played on November 2 in Bengaluru; however, if Pakistan qualify, then it will be held in Colombo.

Eight teams would be participating in matches co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Along with host countries' teams, it included Australia, Pakistan, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Bangladesh.

Australia would enter the tournament as the defending champions, having beaten England in the last edition's final in 2022.

They are also the most successful side in the history of the tournament, winning the prestigious silverware on seven occasions.