ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: Know the venues

Two venues - the Dubai International Stadium and the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium - will play host to the 23 matches during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 which will be held from October 3 to 20 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The ninth edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup was previously scheduled to be hosted by Bangladesh before being moved to the UAE.

The 10-team T20 tournament kicks off with a Group B fixture in Sharjah. Bangladesh will face Scotland in the opener on October 3 before Pakistan and Sri Lanka cross paths at the same venue later in the day.

The following day, the Dubai International Stadium will host back-to-back encounters. The first will pit last year’s finalists South Africa against 2016 champions West Indies while the evening fixture will see the Harmnpreet Kaur-led Indian women’s cricket team open its campaign against New Zealand.

The highly-anticipated India vs Pakistan Group A clash will also be held in Dubai on October 6 and so will the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 final on October 20.

Here, we take a closer look at the two venues for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Dubai International Stadium

The Dubai International Stadium (DIS), which opened in 2009, is the newer of the two venues being used and has a capacity of 25,000.

The first international cricket match to take place at the DIS was Pakistan’s ODI against Australia in April of that year with Shahid Afridi starring in that series and the T20 series that followed.

The venue’s first women’s ODI was Pakistan vs West Indies in February 2019 and Dubai International Stadium hosted its first women’s T20 international in September 2023 when UAE hosted Namibia.

For the 2021 edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the DIS played host to 13 matches, including the final when Australia claimed their first-ever title by defeating New Zealand by eight wickets.

Pakistan’s 10-wicket victory over India in the Super 12 also took place at DIS while the West Indies’ 55 all out against England was the lowest total by a Full Member team in a Men’s T20 World Cup match.

Dubai International Stadium will host 12 matches in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, including the final and one of the two semi-finals.

Other standout matches at the venue include India’s clash against Pakistan in Group A and the final match in Group B between England, inaugural champions in 2009, and the West Indies.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Since it opened in 1982, Sharjah Cricket Stadium has hosted over 200 ODIs, the first of which was Pakistan vs Sri Lanka in April 1984.

The ground has become such a favourite of the international circuit that it entered the Guinness Book of World Records just over a decade ago for having hosted more ODIs than any other. Capable of holding 16,000 spectators, it has specifically become a popular venue for South Asian sides with the vast crowds being made up of the many expats in the area.

The first women’s ODI to take place in Sharjah was on January 9, 2015, when Pakistan hosted Sri Lanka. The same two sides contested the first-ever women’s T20 international at the ground six days later.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium was one of four venues during the 2021 edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and hosted 11 group-stage matches.

The West Stand was renamed after Sachin Tendulkar on the Indian batting legend’s 50th birthday in 2023.

Tendulkar's 134 off 131 balls at the venue when India chased down 273 to defeat Australia in the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup final is still regarded as one of the most noteworthy innings in limited-overs cricket.

The Sharjah Cricket Stadium will host 11 matches during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. It will also host the second semi-final on October 18 with other standout matches including the Group A clash between India and Australia and England’s Group B meeting with South Africa.