ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Trophy. (Source – ICC)
After a country-wide agitation in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and also fled from the country. Even so, the situation in Bangladesh didn’t improve, which forced the International Cricket Council to change the venue of the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, slated to begin on October 3. Multiple countries were in the race to host the tournament but later, United Arab Emirates was finalised. After the shift in venue, ICC also tweaked the schedule of the tournament.
As per the revised schedule, which ICC revealed on Monday, August 26, Bangladesh will be hosting Scotland in the season opener in Sharjah. Pakistan will be playing their first game on the same day against Sri Lanka in Sharjah itself. India meanwhile will be taking the field for the first time on October 4 against New Zealand in Dubai.
The defending champions Australia, who have never played in the UAE, will be hosting Sri Lanka in their opening game of the campaign on October 5 in Sharjah. Another heavyweight team, England, will also be playing their first game on the same day against Bangladesh.
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The high-voltage clash between India versus Pakistan is scheduled to take place on October 6. It will be an afternoon game in Dubai. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will also host the current Asian champions Sri Lanka on October 9. They will play their final league game against Australia on October 13 in Sharjah.
Dubai will be hosting the first semi-final, which is also the one allotted for India, that is subject to qualification. It will be played on October 17 in Dubai while the second semi-final will be played on October 18 in Sharjah. Both the marquee matches have been allocated a reserve day, which wasn’t the case during the men’s T20 World Cup earlier in the year. Meanwhile, Dubai will be hosting the final on October 20.
All the teams are expected to reach UAE in the final week of September as the warm-up fixtures will begin on September 28.