India and Pakistan to renew rivalry on Oct 5

Dubai: 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 according to 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 cleared all doubts after the release of schedule on Monday.

India will kick off their campaign against Sri Lanka at Bengaluru on September 30, and will also face Bangladesh on October 26 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, dispelling the rumours of the venue losing hosting rights of the matches after the recent stampede during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru victory celebrations.

India’s contest against the Lankans is also the opening match of the ICC showpiece.

India, who are seeking their maiden title triumph, 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.

“With the eight best teams in the women’s game descending on India, alongside incredible venues and what promises to be record-breaking crowds,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.

However, the BCCI is yet to form the Local Organising Committee (LOC) which will be in charge of the running of the tournament.