India's marquee women's ODI World Cup match against Pakistan will be held at the neutral venue of R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on October 5, the ICC announced on Monday.
Colombo had to be added as a neutral venue as per the 'Hybrid Model' that was accepted for the men's Champions Trophy and beyond earlier this year after India refrained from travelling to Pakistan for the ICC event.
There were speculations whether ICC will slot an Indo-Pak round-robin match, which is pretty much a feature in all global tournaments post terror attacks in Kashmir's Pahalgam where 26 Indian tourists were killed.
The military escalation from both sides had raised doubts about India facing arch-rivals even at world events but ICC has put all doubts to death with the release of the schedule.
India will taken on Sri Lanka at Bengaluru in the tournament opener on September 30, before facing Bangladesh on October 26 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, dispelling the rumours of the venue losing hosting rights after the recent stampede during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL victory celebrations.
India, who are seeking their maiden title in the showpiece event, will lock horns with South Africa on October 9 and will meet defending champions Australia on October 12, and both the matches are at Visakhapatnam.
India will then move to Indore to face England on October 19 before proceeding to Guwahati to taken on New Zealand on October 23.
“With the eight best teams in the women's game descending on India, alongside incredible venues and what promises to be record-breaking crowds, we are all looking forward to an unforgettable tournament,” said Jay Shah, the ICC Chairman, in a release.
However, the BCCI is yet to form the Local Organising Committee (LOC), which will be in charge of the conduct of the tournament.
Australia will start their campaign against New Zealand on October 1 at Indore, while the high-profile match against England in a rematch of the previous edition's final is scheduled for October 22 in Indore.
Meanwhile, Pakistan will play all their matches in Colombo as per the hybrid model.
Apart from the match against India, they will also play against Bangladesh (October 2), Australia (October 8), England (October 15), New Zealand (October 18), South Africa (October21) and Sri Lanka (October 24) at the Premadasa Stadium.
The first semifinal is scheduled for October 29 either at Guwahati or Colombo depending on Pakistan's progress in the tournament.
The second semifinal will be held at Bengaluru on October 30, while the final will be held at Bengaluru or Colombo on November 2 as per Pakistan's standing in the event.
India are hosting this global event for the first time since 2013, and all the eight teams will play each other in a round-robin format, with the top four entering the semifinals.
Apart from hosts India, the Aussies, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka secured direct qualification to the World Cup while Pakistan and Bangladesh entered the tournament through the Qualifiers at Lahore earlier this year.
Bangladesh qualified for the tournament at the expense of the West Indies.
BCCI
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