India and Sri Lanka set the stage as Women’s World Cup 2025 approaches
The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 is ready to get underway, with eight teams set to battle it out in India and Sri Lanka. Action gets underway on September 30 and runs until the final on November 2, but the journey for some began long before in order to secure their place at the tournament.
Hosts, India, were automatically assured of their place, as they welcome the world for the fourth time. They hosted most recently in 2013, having also done so in 1978 and 1997, and will hope familiar surroundings can help them to a first-ever title. They are joined by five teams who qualified by virtue of their final positions in the ICC 2022-2025 Women’s Championship.
The top five ranked teams, aside from hosts India, earned direct entry thanks to their performances across three years of international fixtures between the world’s top 10 teams. Defending champions Australia finished top of the table, losing just three of their 24 matches, while 2022 runners-up England finished third behind India.
England last lifted the trophy on home soil in 2017, while Australia are searching for an eighth title having reclaimed their crown in 2022. South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand also all earned qualification via the same method.
New Zealand won their only title in 2000, when they beat Australia, and last reached the final in 2009, while South Africa have been semi-finalists at the last two editions. Sri Lanka return to the table having missed out on the 2022 edition in New Zealand.
That left two spots available, and six teams fought it out at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 Qualifier in Pakistan in April. The bottom four teams from the Women’s Championship, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ireland and West Indies, were joined by Scotland and Thailand for a round-robin competition from which the top two nations would progress to the World Cup.
Hosts Pakistan won all five of their matches to qualify in style, while Bangladesh edged out the West Indies on net run rate to squeeze through in dramatic fashion. The Tigresses faced a nervous wait as the West Indies played Thailand in the final match, but the Windies were unable to reach their target quickly enough to claim the second qualifying spot. Neither of the qualifying sides have reached the knockout stages, with Pakistan eighth in 2022 and Bangladesh seventh on their World Cup debut.
Meanwhile, co-hosts Sri Lanka named a 15-member squad for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 under the leadership of seasoned and experienced all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu. The squad includes a mixture of experience and youth, with many star performers of the side expected to find form, and with the distant home advantage. However, Sri Lanka will start their campaign on September 30 against co-hosts India at Guwahati in the tournament’s opening game.
That will be an acid test for both teams, who certainly would look forward to making use of the friendly and accustomed conditions of the Asian subcontinent. A lot will be expected from skipper Athapaththu herself, well experienced at 35 and aptly recognised as the true trailblazer of women’s cricket in Sri Lanka.
Udeshika Prabodhani, the most senior of the lot at 39, and the side’s most experienced left-arm seamer, makes a return after a lay-off of almost a year, to bolster Sri Lanka’s hopes at the World Cup. The veteran Prabodhani’s last international appearance was during last year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in October, before she suffered a persistent hamstring injury. She has not played an ODI since the tour of Ireland in August 2024. Joining her in the seam attack are 35-year-old and experienced Achini Kulasuriya and 24-year-old and aspiring Malki Madara.
Another returnee to the side is batter Imesha Dulani, who could not find a slot in the side for Sri Lanka’s home tri-series against India and South Africa earlier this year. The 23-year-old Dulani replaces 17-year-old Manudi Nanayakkara. Skipper Athapaththu leads a steady batting line-up that also sees the presence of Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Hasini Perera, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani and Piumi Wathsala. Inoshi Fernando, another veteran, has been named as the travelling reserve.
Following their curtain-raiser encounter against India in Guwahati on September 30, Sri Lanka will play their next four games in Colombo at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium. They will play against Australia on October 4, England on October 11, New Zealand on October 14 and South Africa on October 17, before travelling to Navi Mumbai to take on Bangladesh on October 20. Sri Lanka will play their final league round match against Pakistan on October 25 in Colombo.
| The Squad | |
| Chamari Athapaththu (Captain), Hasini Perera, Vishmi Gunarathne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (VC), Imesha Dulani, Dewmi Vihanga, Piumi Wathsala, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Udeshika Prabodhani, Malki Madara, Achini Kulasooriya
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