Will Thiruvananthapuram Replace Bengaluru for the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup?

New Delhi, Aug 12 (NationPress) The Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram is poised to take over from Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as the venue for the upcoming 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, scheduled for September 30 to November 2.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the Karnataka government has not granted permissions for games at the stadium following serious safety concerns stemming from the tragic stampede on June 4. Consequently, the matches originally allocated to Bengaluru will now be played in Thiruvananthapuram.

Sources further indicated, “Due to the lack of timely permissions for World Cup games in Bengaluru, the matches will shift to Thiruvananthapuram, which is also an excellent venue due to its favorable weather and proximity to Colombo. An official announcement from the ICC is expected soon.”

Concerns regarding the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium have lingered since the stampede outside its grounds during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2025 victory celebrations, resulting in 11 fatalities and over 50 injuries. Investigations are ongoing, and findings by the Justice John Michael D'Cunha Commission revealed that the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is poorly equipped to host large-scale events safely.

The commission highlighted that the venue’s ‘design and structure’ are inherently ‘unsuitable and unsafe’ for large gatherings, warning that hosting high-attendance events could pose ‘unacceptable risks to public safety, urban mobility, and emergency preparedness’.

As a result, the KSCA was compelled to relocate the Maharaja T20 Trophy matches to Wadeyar Ground in Mysuru, while Alur hosted the Maharani T20 competition matches. Initially, Bengaluru was set to host the opening match of the women’s ODI World Cup between India and Sri Lanka, along with one semi-final and potentially the final on November 2.

Bengaluru was also slated to host two warm-up matches before the main event. In contrast, the Greenfield International Stadium has not yet hosted women’s international cricket but has seen four men’s T20Is and two ODIs, along with Youth Tests and ODIs. It was also a venue for the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup warm-up matches, which were unfortunately abandoned due to incessant rain.

Other venues for the tournament include Visakhapatnam, Indore, Guwahati, and Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, with a round-robin format featuring eight teams – defending champions Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka.

The 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup will mark the first global women’s cricket event held in the subcontinent since India hosted the 2016 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. India has previously hosted the Women’s ODI World Cup in 1978, 1997, and 2013.