Mumbai and Vadodara will stage all the matches of the Women's Champions Trophy early next year.
India will host the inaugural ICC Women's Champions Trophy early next year, following the International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision to relocate the tournament from Sri Lanka.
The six-team event will be played from February 14 to 28 in a T20I format. Cricket Club of India in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium in Vadodara will stage all the matches.
The hosting rights were stripped from Sri Lanka due to government interference in the cricket board’s (SLC) governance.
Addressing the media on Thursday (September 3), BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed that India was selected over competing bids from Bangladesh and South Africa, emphasizing that the board is fully prepared to stage the competition on short notice.
"Yes, you should appreciate the BCCI that we are going to host the Women's Champions Trophy in February next year. So we have two venues - one is the CCI Brabourne, which is next to this one, Wankhede Stadium.
“The other one is Baroda, and we should appreciate, and we should thank ICC, including Jay Shah, that they have thought that BCCI is the right country that can host the tournament at such short notice," Saikia told reporters following a performance review meeting at BCCI headquarters in Mumbai.
Despite losing hosting rights, Sri Lanka maintained its spot in the tournament based on its ICC Women’s T20I rankings. Other five participating teams in the marquee event will be Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa.
"The BCCI is always ready to host these kinds of international events, and for that, the BCCI should get some credit that we are ready to accommodate any international event at any point in time.
“At the last moment, now at the 11th hour, Sri Lanka could not host this tournament. BCCI offered four venues, out of which two venues were selected, and we are going to host it in a very good manner," added Saikia.
As far as the tournament format is concerned, the participating teams will compete in a round-robin league and the top two sides will progress to the final.
(With IANS Inputs)