India to Host Inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy 2027 After Sri Lanka Loses Hosting Rights

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on September 2, 2026 announced that the first edition of the Women’s Champions Trophy will be moved from Sri Lanka to India. The six-team event will be played in two Indian cities - Mumbai and Vadodara from February 14 to 28, 2027. Sri Lanka was dropped as the hosts as the nation is grappling with a few governance-related issues.

A ICC statement read, “The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka but it will now be staged in India as Sri Lanka continues to make the requisite reformed outline at the ICC Annual Conference in July.”

The ICC assessed three candidates to be the host for the marquee event - South Africa, Bangladesh and India against its established host evaluation criteria before recommending India as the replacement host, a decision which was ratified by the ICC Board on September 2, 2026.

The Cricket Club of India (CCI) in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium have been chosen as the two venues to host the matches of the landmark tournament. The opening edition of Women’s Champions Trophy will feature six of the world’s leading women’s cricket teams, vis-a-vis England, Australia, South Africa, India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

These six teams qualified as per their positions in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings on the July 6 qualification cut-off date. The teams will compete in a round-robin league, with the top two sides advancing to the finals, which will be played on February 28, 2027.

The 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 an 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.”