India to stage inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy 2027 after Sri Lanka dropped as host

The International Cricket Council on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) moved the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy to India from Sri Lanka, and the six-team event will be played in Mumbai and Vadodara from February 14 to 28.

Sri Lanka was dropped as the host as the sport is grappling with governance issues in the island nation.

The ICC Board approved India as the new host on Wednesday (September 2).

“The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka but will now be staged in India as Sri Lanka Cricket continues to make the requisite reforms outlined at the ICC’s Annual Conference in July.

“The ICC assessed three candidates — Bangladesh, India and South Africa — against its established host evaluation criteria before recommending India as the replacement host, a decision ratified by the ICC Board on 2 September,” said the ICC in a statement.

The Cricket Club of India (CCI) in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium will be the venues for the landmark tournament that will bring together six of the world’s leading women’s cricket teams — Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Those six teams, who qualified as per their positions in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings on the July 6 qualification cut-off date, will compete in a round-robin league, with the top two sides advancing to the final on 28 February.

The Men’s Champions Trophy is played in the 50-over format.

India had hosted the Women’s ODI World Cup last year when the home team won a pathbreaking title.

ICC Chairman, Jay Shah, said: “The ICC Women’s Champions Trophy 2027 marks an exciting new chapter for women’s cricket. As the inaugural edition of the tournament, it will bring together the best teams in the world in an intense, high-quality competition, while creating even greater incentive for teams to continue rising through the rankings and competing for a place on the global stage.

“With a marquee ICC women’s event now taking place every year, we have a significant opportunity to build greater momentum, provide more consistency and create a stronger rhythm for the women’s game, its players and its fans around the world.”