 "The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 will run from 30 September to 2 November. Images: PTI/ICC")
The wait is over. It will have been only 1276 days since the culmination of the last Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and the beginning of this one in India, yet, it feels like a lifetime ago. Why, you may ask? Well, because so much has happened. And that is perhaps underselling it too.
The Women’s Premier League has come to fruition, and it now occupies a novel spot in the calendar. There is much more money involved as well, which is a direct result of more eyeballs being trained on the women’s game and the reduction of disparity.
The prize pool for the upcoming edition stands at USD 13.88 million, which is unprecedented . Both in terms of the women’s game and the footfall winning ICC events usually bring. For context, the prize pool at the last Women’s World Cup was USD 3.5 million, and the prize pool for the last men’s ODI World Cup, also incidentally in India, was USD 10 million.
More money for cricket champions than football winners
The winner of the Women’s World Cup this year is set to receive USD 4.48 million, which is, of course, an exponential increase on what they would have earned earlier, but also eclipses what Spain received for winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup back in 2023.
The financial implications, thus, cannot be denied. Nor should they be. Because sport and cricket, as blunt as it might sound, needs money to prosper, and it needs these financial incentives additionally to make it viable for more people, to get more countries into the sport and to tell them that even if they fail in their pursuit of a fairy tale, they will have something to fall back on, and go again.
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It is also refreshing that this Women’s World Cup will feature an all-woman officiating panel, comprising 14 umpires and four Match Referees. Another sign of where the women’s game is heading, and another key indicator of why it has and should have a place solely to itself in the cricketing landscape.
But what might make this Women’s World Cup truly special is the number of teams that can genuinely win it. Australia, of course, are the reigning champions and have not put a foot wrong in the format since their seventh and most recent triumph, losing only 4 out of the 31 women’s ODIs they have played since the beginning of 2023.
Their strength in depth is incredible, as proven by the fact that someone like Georgia Voll could start on the bench. Jess Jonassen, often a key player for the Delhi Capitals in the WPL, is not in the squad altogether.
What probably sets Australia apart is their tournament pedigree. They seldom finish competitions with a feeling of unfulfilled potential, but the law of averages (if that is still a thing) does suggest they could be due for a dip in form. Which is something India would not mind. Although it could be argued that India now have what it takes to upstage a full-strength Australian side and one at the peak of their powers.
India, a strong contender, but Australia led the race
Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, undoubtedly, are the headline acts, but India have put together a stellar supporting cast, comprising the likes of Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Singh - all of whom, on their day, are match-winners, and having played a lot of WPL cricket with the Aussies, not entirely overawed either.
They will also have home support, and while that may not translate into home advantage as such, given India have barely played at the Indian venues hosting the World Cup, it should give them a psychological boost. Knowing thousands in the stands will keep giving their all, hoping that history finally veers towards them, is not a bad thing.
There are other contenders, too. England, the last team not named Australia to win the Women’s World Cup, may have a new captain-coach nexus at the helm, but Nat Sciver-Brunt and Charlotte Edwards, through their WPL adventures, know what it takes to win a tournament in India.
Quality exists elsewhere in the squad as well. Heather Knight, free of the captaincy shackles, has the experience and the class to be the standout batter at the World Cup. ODIs are also Tammy Beaumont’s most prolific format, and with Alice Capsey and Emma Lamb capable of middle-order marauding, England’s batting seems in fine fettle.
Their spin contingent, spearheaded by Sophie Ecclestone, and bolstered by Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith and Sarah Glenn, wears a decent look, whereas their pacers, Em Arlott, Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer are proper wicket-takers across phases.
New Zealand and South Africa, who played the final of the most recent women’s T20 World Cup cannot be written off either. Sophie Devine and Laura Wolvaardt are the obvious batting lynchpins, but all-rounders Amelia Kerr and Marizanne Kapp, as they have shown in the past, can rule tournaments entirely by themselves.
The power-hitting revolution has also permeated women’s white-ball cricket. Scores are getting steeper, sixes are getting bigger and the jeopardy, both as a batter and, of course, as a bowler, has never felt greater. One missed length, and the ball may have to be retrieved from the stands. But one misstep as a batter, and runs will be left out there, with the opposition more than happy to capitalize.
All of which lends to the notion that this Women’s World Cup will keep everyone on the edge of their seats. A perfect concoction of high stakes, high-quality players and high drama – happening, simultaneously, in overdrive and with every ball feeling like a story in itself. And that is why the gap between the last edition and this one has felt like forever.
2025 World Cup can be the trend-setter
Back then, Australia were comfortably the best team on the planet. They probably still are. But they now have several teams breathing down their necks, itching to be the side that ends their domination. Not to mention that Australia might have never faced pressure of this sort, given how many people are expected to gorge on the action that unfolds for a day in September, a day in November and for all of October.
From that perspective, it is fitting that this Women’s World Cup, capable of being a difference-maker and a trend-setter for generations to come, will premiere mostly in a nation that is crazy about the game and is embracing it across genders.
The prize pool, the presence of an all-woman panel, the hype, the buzz, the fanfare created even before a ball has been bowled, and the cricket on display – all of it could propel this above every other tournament that has preceded it.
And that is why the Women’s World Cup will not disappoint. Nor will the players. Nor will this beautiful sport. And by the time it is all done, chances are it will have felt worth the wait too.