The ICC has shifted the venue for the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy in 2027 from Sri Lanka to India. Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium will host all matches, to be played in the T20 format, from February 14 to 28.
Despite losing the tournament’s hosting rights due to the government’s interference in its cricket board, Sri Lanka will feature in this six-team competition, having qualified after being in the top six of the T20I rankings on the July 6 qualification cut-off date. The remaining five teams are hosts India, Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa.
According to an official release, the ICC assessed Bangladesh, India and South Africa as potential replacements against its established host evaluation criteria before zeroing in on India as Sri Lanka’s replacement host on Wednesday.
While Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium hasn’t hosted an international game since December 2022, when the Indian women’s team hosted Australia in T20Is, it hosted the Women’s Premier League (WPL) inaugural season in 2023. It later hosted some WPL matches in 2025. Vadodara, meanwhile, has also hosted WPL matches in the past two editions.
The women’s Champions Trophy was due to be Sri Lanka’s second ICC event in two years, since last co-hosting the men’s T20 World Cup with India in February this year. At this competition, the six participating teams will compete in a round-robin stage, with the top two sides advancing to the final on February 28.
Meanwhile, the SLC is under interim administration – the Transformation Committee, which was put in place by the Sri Lanka government and oversees major board changes. The ICC, however, does not recognise politically appointed administrations, and SLC members have been absent at ICC board meetings since the committee was put in place.