Pakistan seeks to host entire 2028 Women's T20 World Cup; UAE likely neutral for India

Pakistan is seeking to stage all matches of the 2028 Women's T20 World Cup, with the United Arab Emirates identified as the probable neutral venue for fixtures involving India, a Pakistan Cricket Board source said. The International Cricket Council has scheduled the 12-team tournament for September 7 to October 1, 2028 and confirmed that neutral venue arrangements will apply.

The PCB source said Pakistan is ready to host the tournament but will press the ICC to adopt the hybrid model used at the 2025 Champions Trophy. That hybrid arrangement, under which matches involving India and Pakistan at ICC events are played at neutral venues, was confirmed by the ICC in December 2024 and extended to the 2028 Women's T20 World Cup. The 2025 Champions Trophy was implemented under this model, with Dubai designated as the neutral venue, and India playing all its matches there, including the final against New Zealand, which it won. Pakistan hosted 10 of that tournament's 15 matches.

An official PCB source said, "We would like to host matches of both groups and the knockout matches where the Indian team is not involved." The neutral venue for India's matches has not been finalised.

The source added, "UAE will probably be the neutral venue of choice for everyone because the travel between Pakistan and Dubai is short, and logistics becomes less expensive and easier to handle."

Similar neutral-venue arrangements have been applied at other recent tournaments: during the 2023 Asia Cup, hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, India played its matches in Sri Lanka, and at the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup in India, Pakistan played its matches in Colombo, including its group-stage meeting with India.

The PCB source said India are among the leading teams in women's cricket and would be expected to challenge for the knockout stages in 2028. The source added that the 2028 Women's T20 World Cup will be another major test of the hybrid model as the two cricketing rivals continue to meet at neutral venues in multinational competitions.

The PCB source said Lahore could host the final if India fail to qualify, although the ICC has yet to confirm the venue arrangements. The source also said hosting the tournament would boost women's cricket in Pakistan, which is keen to build a competitive team for the global event.