India will host the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy after the ICC moved the six-team tournament from Sri Lanka over ongoing governance concerns.
The tournament will be played from February 14 to 28, 2027, with the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium named as the two venues.
The ICC confirmed the decision on September 2 after assessing Bangladesh, India and South Africa against its established host criteria. India was recommended as the replacement host before the ICC Board ratified the decision.
Sri Lanka had originally been scheduled to host the first edition, but its hosting rights came under question as the country’s cricket administration continued to work through reforms requested by the ICC.
The governing body had called for changes to Sri Lanka Cricket’s administration, including progress on its constitution and the holding of elections.
The country will still compete in the tournament alongside Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa.
The six teams qualified based on their positions in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings at the July 6 cut-off date. They will play a round-robin league, with the top two teams progressing to the final on February 28.
The tournament will be played entirely in the T20I format, forming part of the ICC’s expanded women’s cricket calendar.
It is designed to give women’s cricket a regular major international event each year, following the Women’s T20 World Cup, Women’s Cricket World Cup and other ICC competitions across the calendar.
India’s selection gives the country another major women’s cricket event shortly after it hosted the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup.
It won that tournament on home soil, beating South Africa in the final to claim its first Women’s ODI World Cup title.
The move to India also provides the ICC with an established cricket market and two venues capable of staging the tournament across a compact schedule.
Mumbai’s Cricket Club of India has a long association with Indian cricket, while the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium provides a modern venue for the competition.
