India will open their campaign against a qualifier on March 6 at the Bay Oval in Tauranga in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022, which begins a couple of days earlier on March 4, announced the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
The opening match of the Women’s World Cup 2022 will be between New Zealand and a qualifier on March 4 at the Bay Oval. The Basin Reserve in Wellington and the Hagley Oval in Christchurch will host the semi-finals with the latter also set to host the final under lights on April 3, 2022.
An opening match at Tauranga’s Bay Oval and a final under lights at Hagley Oval are two of the highlights of a 31-match schedule announced today for ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022.
“The pinnacle event for women’s cricket will see 31 matches played across 31 action-packed days between 4 March and 3 April 2022 – the first global women’s cricket event to be played since the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia back in March. The tournament was postponed from its original window in February-March 2021 with the same six host cities and venues retained for 2022,” ICC said in a release.
India will play 7 matches in the group stage of which four are against New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and England. The other three opponents are qualifiers which will be determined later.
India captain Mithali Raj, said she is also looking forward to leading her team to a win at the World Cup.
“We have all been through a very difficult year and are happy to be getting back at playing the game we all love. India has been doing very well at ICC tournaments in the past three or four years, whether you talk about the (ODI) World Cup or the recently concluded T20 World Cup, and if we manage to win the tournament in 2022, it will be a massive inspiration for the next generation of girls, as the fifty-over format, is considered the pinnacle for any cricketer. I can assure you the team and I, are looking forward to it,” said Raj.
Eight of the world’s best cricket nations will go head-to-head in six host cities across Aotearoa: Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.
ICC CEO, Manu Sawhney said: “The ICC has made a long-term commitment to elevating women’s cricket as part of our strategy to grow and develop the global game.
“We want to build a sustainable foundation for women’s cricket. It is about building a product that fans want to watch, that kids want to take up, that sponsors and broadcasters want to be part of. This schedule takes the world’s best cricketers across New Zealand and can help inspire a generation of girls and boys to take up the game.
Speaking on the forthcoming women’s world cup, Sanjog Gupta, Head (Sports), Star India, official broadcasters of the event, spoke about the initiatives the network have lined up ahead of the marquee event.
“At Star India, we have worked towards building a more inclusive sports ecosystem in the country, one which encourages women to compete at the highest level, watch as fans, participate at the grassroots level and work behind the scenes to deliver our broadcasts. The last five years have seen significant progress in women’s Cricket and recent success of the Women’s T20 challenge is an indicator of the same. We at Star India are proud to be associated with women’s cricket and are delighted to have contributed to its growth. The growing prominence of women’s cricket and showcasing of Cricketers’ journeys serve as an inspiration to young girls and encourages them to pick up the sport.
“Continuing our commitment to building women heroes for the country, Star Sports will have an exciting line-up of content leading up to the upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup and will present the tournament in multiple languages with an exciting line-up of surround programming including Cricket Live. The broadcast of the ICC Women’s World Cup has grown leaps and bounds. The 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup Final, one of the highest-rated sporting events of that year with a cumulative reach of 95mn, is testament to the growing fandoms for women’s cricket in India.”
