Women's T20 World Cup 2028 to be hosted by Pakistan, India's matches likely in Dubai

The ICC has announced the 2028 Women's T20 World Cup. The tournament will be played between September 7 and October 1. Pakistan will be the main host, but the final decision on where India's matches will be played is still pending.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wants all matches except India's to be held in its own country. India's matches, meanwhile, are likely to be held at a neutral venue, which means a separate neutral venue will have to be found for India.

A PCB source said Pakistan is ready to host all group and knockout matches that do not involve the Indian team. According to the source, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could become the neutral venue because the travel time between Pakistan and Dubai is short. This would make it easier to move and manage logistics.

This means the 12-team Women's T20 World Cup will be held in Pakistan, while the Indian team will play its matches in Dubai. The same PCB source also said that if the Indian team does not reach the final, the final could be held in Lahore. Pakistan is ready to stage the tournament in a hybrid model, as with the 2025 Champions Trophy.

The ICC introduced the hybrid model specifically with the 2025 Champions Trophy. Pakistan hosted that tournament, but India played all its matches in Dubai. A similar arrangement has been made for other tournaments as well.

The 2023 Asia Cup was hosted jointly by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and all of India's matches in it were played in Sri Lanka. For the 2025 Women's World Cup, Pakistan did not travel to India and played all its matches in Colombo. A PCB official said the same model will be adopted for the 2028 Women's T20 World Cup.

India and Pakistan face each other only in ICC tournaments. Political tension between the two countries has also affected their sporting ties. It will therefore be important to see what plan the ICC makes for India.