In a historic twist, Pakistan will not play a single match in India during the 2025 T20 World Cup, with all their games shifted to Sri Lanka under a special ICC agreement.
The ICC has confirmed venue plans for the 2025 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India from February 7 to March 8 next year. While India has finalized Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai as host cities, Sri Lanka is expected to stage matches in Colombo and Pallekele, pending final approval. The tournament final is set to take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 8, the world’s largest cricket venue.
A key highlight of the ICC clarification is the special hosting arrangement between the Indian Cricket Board and the Pakistan Cricket Board. Under the neutral venue rule, Pakistan will play all their group and Super Stage matches in Sri Lanka, and if they qualify for the final, the title match will also be shifted to Sri Lanka instead of India. This makes the tournament the first World Cup in history where a finalist may not play the final in the designated host country.
The ICC is expected to release the full match schedule within the next week, as regulations require fixtures to be published at least three months before the tournament begins. A total of 20 teams will compete, divided into four groups of five. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super Eight round, where they will be split into two groups of four. From there, the top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Teams qualified so far include India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, USA, Ireland, Netherlands, Nepal, Oman, Canada, Italy, UAE, Namibia and Zimbabwe. With high-profile rivals, new entrants and a split-host format, the 2025 edition is already set to be one of the most politically, geographically and competitively unique T20 World Cups ever staged.
