Zimbabwe Offers to Host Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 If ICC Moves Tournament from Bangladesh

New Delhi: Zimbabwe has thrown their hat in the ring to host the Women’s T20 World Cup, should the International Cricket Council (ICC) decide to relocate the tournament from Bangladesh due to safety and security concerns. The Women’s T20 World Cup is currently scheduled to be held in Bangladesh from October 3 to 20, but the recent political unrest, including the resignation and departure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has prompted the ICC to explore alternative venues.

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, Zimbabwe has shown its interest in hosting the tournament to establish the African country as a prime location for major cricketing events. The development comes in after BCCI secretary Jay Shah straightway declined to host the event. Another option for ICC could be the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, a decision is likely to be taken on August 20 following an ICC board meeting.

The Zimbabwean women’s team have never played in any cricket World Cups. In fact, the country has never hosted a cricket World Cup in the past 21 years. The last time Zimbabwe hosted a World Cup was in 2003, alongside Kenya and South Africa. In recent times, the African country has successfully hosted the World Cup qualifiers in 2018 and 2023.

If the ICC awards the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 to Zimbabwe, the organizing committee could use the Harare Sports Cub and the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Both venues hosted televised matches during the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers. The weather in Zimbabwe in October, coupled it with strong crowd support is a potential match winner for Zimbabwe. To add more to that, the cost of hosting in Zimbabwe will be much lesser than UAE.