India to host 2025 Women's ODI World Cup, FTP for next five years finalised

BCCI has successfully bid for the mega event during the ICC Annual Conference that concluded in Birmingham on Tuesday. The ICC flagship event will return to the country after more than a decade. The last time a women's 50-over World Cup was held in India was back in 2013 when Australian emerged champions after beating the West Indies by 114 runs in the final in Mumbai.

Three other ICC women's events were also awarded on the day with Bangladesh hosting the 2024 T20 World Cup and England winning hosting rights for the 2026 edition. The inaugural T20 Champions Trophy in 2027 will be hosted by Sri Lanka. The last big mega women's global cricket event held in India was the 2016 World T20 but that was primarily because ICC used to organise both men's and women's event simultaneously.

However, the system has changed with popularity of women's game increasing exponentially and ICC has segregated the events to procure the proper value for women's game with separate broadcast deal and exclusive coverage. "We were keen on hosting the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 and we are glad we have won the hosting rights for this marquee clash on the women's calendar," BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was quoted as saying in an ICC release. "The sport has undergone tremendous transformation since then.

The popularity of women's cricket is rapidly rising, and this is a step in the right direction. The BCCI will work closely with the ICC and fulfil all the requirements." BCCI secretary Jay Shah said: "We are taking several steps to raise the profile of the sport right from the grassroots level and hosting the World Cup will further boost the popularity of the sport in the country. "The BCCI remains committed to women's cricket in India.