Key Points

The Women in Blue will be playing the tournament opener against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. This would be the first match at this venue since Bengaluru stampeded on June 4.

India will be hoping to go one step further at this year's tournament than they did in 2017, when they made it to their second Women's Cricket World Cup Final, missing out narrowly to England in a thrilling finish at Lord's.

Speaking on India's chances to lift the title, Saikia told ANI, "India is hosting the ICC Women's World Cup from September 30 to November 2 in India as well as in Sri Lanka. The Indian team has been doing extremely well. If you look at the last series in England also, in the white ball cricket, they have performed very well and defeating England in England is not an easy thing, but they have handsomely defeated England both in the T20 as well as ODI matches. So far, the Indian team has not won any ICC Women's Trophy. There is a big challenge for that this time around. The Indian team is fully prepared to take on this biggest challenge in the ICC World Cup."

Guwahati is set to host his maiden World Cup in the upcoming 2025 edition of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup. Earlier on Thursday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that renowned Indian singer Shreya Ghoshal will perform at the Grand Opening Ceremony in Guwahati. Ghoshal, who has also recorded the tournament's official anthem, "Bring it Home," will deliver a live performance that celebrates the energy, spirit, and unity of women's cricket on the global stage.

"Guwahati, for the first time, is hosting any World Cup matches. Prior to this, in 2023, when the Men's 50 overs ICC World Cup was held in India, Guwahati hosted four warm-up matches, but not the main matches. It was good that the warm-up matches held here were very successful. Three matches were held. One match was lost out. The infrastructure has developed much better now. The whole northeastern region, the only international venue is Guwahati. The people here are really eagerly waiting for this tournament. On 30th, I hope, with the opening game, northeastern India, as well as Guwahati, will be on the map. We will get a position in the world map so far as ICC tournaments are concerned," the BCCI secretary added.

- ANI