CHENNAI: After much delay, the long-awaited update regarding the Women's ODI World Cup is here. DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai will replace the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as the official venue, the International Cricket Council announced on Friday.
This shift means, Guwahati will now host the tournament opener, originally scheduled to happen in Bengaluru on September 30, between India and Sri Lanka and the India-New Zealand game is shifted from Assam to Navi Mumbai. DY Patil will also host India's last league game against Bangladesh followed by a semifinal and a possible final (Colombo if Pakistan qualify).
That apart, the Sri Lanka versus Bangladesh game (originally scheduled in Colombo on October 20) will also be played in Navi Mumbai while the Island Nation's tie against England is shifted from Guwahati to Colombo. Guwahati and Visakhapatnam saw a swap of Bangladesh versus New Zealand on October 10 and England versus New Zealand on October 26.
This revision of schedule comes after the stampede that happened during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru victory parade at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium a few months ago which led to the death of 11 people. As things stand, there is no clarity on when Bengaluru will host an international fixture again.
As far as DY Patil is concerned, it has hosted a significant number of women's games in recent years including a sell-out 40000-plus crowd for the second T20I between India and Australia less than two years ago. It has also hosted a number of Women's Premier League games over the last three years.
This shift, with five weeks to go, does not paint a rosy picture in the lead up to the tournament. The tickets for the games are yet to be released and the fans who had already made travel plans will now have to make the changes. The eight-team event will see India, Australia, Pakistan (all games in Colombo), Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand fight for the highest honour in the women's game. This is the first time India are hosting a women's World Cup since the 2016 T20 event. The last Women's ODI World Cup in India was in 2013.