Cricket
ICC Women's T20 World Cup expands to 16 teams in 2030 for gender equity
ICC has also focused on capitalizing on the Olympic Opportunity as Cricket will be a part of LA-2028 just after Paris-2024.
Indian Women's Cricket Team at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Chennai. ( Photo Credit: BCCI Media )
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has given a thumbs-up to the expansion of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to 16 teams by 2030, committing to equity between the men’s and women’s games.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup commenced in 2009 with eight teams, expanding to 10 teams in 2016.
The Women's T20 World Cup 2024 will commence on October 3rd in Bangladesh. The tournament will see ten teams compete across two venues in the host nation, Dhaka and Sylhet.
However, the number of teams will increase from 10 to 12 in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in England before further expanding to 16 in 2030.
The ICC has confirmed the qualification cut-off date for the 2026 edition to be October 31, 2024. The ICC Annual Conference concluded today in Colombo, Sri Lanka, marking a successful four-day gathering that brought together all 108 ICC Members for the ICC Board meeting and Annual General Meeting.
Held just days before the commencement of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the conference served as a strategic springboard for cricket's future.
The theme, "Capitalizing on the Olympic Opportunity," resonated throughout the discussions, reflecting the collective ambition to leverage cricket's inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
This forward-looking approach ensured that the conference wasn't merely a recap of the past year, but rather a platform to chart a course for cricket's growth and global impact in the years to come.
Adding cricket to the Olympics could boost India's sports culture and increase interest in other sports, leading to greater participation.
