Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
The ICC Board has decided to expand the Women’s World Cup from eight to 10 teams in 2029. This comes on the heels of the resounding success of the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup in India that logged record viewership globally. India beat South Africa in the final to clinch their maiden title.
“The ICC re-affirmed its commitment to the growth of Women’s Cricket and heralded the success of ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India as testament to its long-standing faith in the Women’s game,” cricket’s global body stated via a press release at the conclusion of its Board meetings in Dubai on Friday. “Nearly 300,000 fans watched the event in stadia breaking the record for tournament attendance for any women’s Cricket event. The tournament also witnessed viewership growth and new records being set for on-screen audiences across the world with nearly 500 million viewers in India. The ICC board, keen to build on the success of the event, agreed to expand the next edition of the tournament to 10 teams (from eight teams in 2025).”
Also, cricket is deepening its global footprint. The ICC under the chairmanship of Jay Shah commended the efforts being made to include cricket in multi-sport events. The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will have cricket. Apart from that, the sport will be part of the roster at the 2026 Asian Games, 2027 African Games and the 2027 PanAm Games. In Lima, Peru, cricket will make its debut in the PanAm Games.
“At LA28, both the men’s and women’s T20 events will feature six teams each, comprising 28 matches in total,” said the ICC release.
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