India to host the first Women’s Champions Trophy after Sri Lanka loses the event

The International Cricket Council confirmed on 2 September that India will stage the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy from 14 to 28 February 2027. All matches will be played at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium.

Sri Lanka had the event. The ICC moved it after Sri Lanka Cricket failed to complete governance reforms set out at the Annual Conference in July. The Board ratified India as replacement host on 1 September, after staff scored three candidates, Bangladesh, India and South Africa, against the council’s host-evaluation criteria.

Who is in the six

The field is Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Places were fixed by the women’s T20I team rankings on a 6 July 2026 cut-off. Australia sat first, England second, India third, New Zealand fourth, South Africa fifth and Sri Lanka sixth. Pakistan is not in the tournament.

The format is a single round-robin in T20Is. Each side plays five league matches. The top two meet in the final on 28 February. India hold the 50-over Women’s World Cup. Australia reclaimed the T20 World Cup in England in July.

The window itself moved earlier in the year. In June the ICC shifted the tournament from June-July 2027 into mid-February, while Sri Lanka was still listed as host. That change already brushed against Australia’s home white-ball series against New Zealand, scheduled from 27 February to 7 March. Cricket Australia was told at the time and left to rearrange.

Why Colombo lost the file

The hosting decision is a governance decision. The ICC has not recognised the politically appointed interim administration running Sri Lanka Cricket. SLC representatives have been kept out of Board meetings since a Transformation Committee took charge. Prakash Shaffter, secretary of that committee, said in late August that the event had already been moved, before the new host was named.

Sri Lanka still plays. The original design gave the host an automatic berth alongside the top five ranked sides. Because Sri Lanka finished sixth on the cut-off date, the team is in on ranking, not as host. That removes one penalty that had been discussed when the rights were first pulled.

Money is the other penalty. A home Champions Trophy would have put tickets, hotels and broadcast packaging through Colombo and Kandy. Those receipts now sit with the BCCI venues in Mumbai and Vadodara. The ICC has not published a compensation figure.

What the venues mean

CCI’s Brabourne ground is a member club stadium in south Mumbai, not a 50,000-seat World Cup bowl. Vadodara International Cricket Stadium is a newer, larger ground. Pairing them splits the event between a heritage city venue and a state stadium that can take a bigger crowd for the final.

India hosted the 2025 Women’s World Cup. Putting the first Champions Trophy on the same calendar keeps the women’s senior event cycle inside the country for a second straight peak season. It also gives the BCCI another two-week window to sell a six-team league rather than a bilateral series.

For Sri Lanka the cost is institutional. Until the Board accepts the governance changes listed in July, other events can be moved the same way. For the six teams the calendar is now fixed: 15 league matches and a final in 15 days, in two Indian cities, with no Pakistan side in the draw.