Defending champions India are grouped with West Indies, Sri Lanka and hosts Malaysia for the ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup which begins on January 18, 2025. The 41-game event will feature 16 teams, like the inaugural edition in 2023, and will conclude with the final on February 2.
Four venues across Malaysia will host the event. Bayuemas Oval in Selangor will host all Group A games and the final. The Dato' Dr. Harjit Singh Johor Cricket Academy (JCA Oval) in Johor will host the Group B games. Sarawak's Borneo Cricket Ground will be the venue for the Group C fixtures, and the UKM YSD Oval in Selangor will host the Group D matches.
It will be the first World Cup appearance across any age division for Samoa, who are in Group C alongside New Zealand, South Africa and an Africa qualifier, yet to be decided. Group B has England - losing finalists in 2023 - alongside Pakistan, Ireland and USA. Group D features Australia, Bangladesh, Scotland and an Asia qualifier. Group A has India, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, who will be featuring in their maiden U-19 women's World Cup competition as well.
The tournament will begin with six games on opening day: Australia versus Scotland, England against Ireland, and Samoa taking on the Africa qualifier in the morning; followed by Pakistan-Ireland, Bangladesh against the Asia qualifier, and New Zealand versus South Africa in the afternoon. India begin campaign on the second day against West Indies. Before the main event gets underway, there will be 16 warm-up games between January 13 and 16.
Once the group stage is over, the top three teams from each group will progress to the Super Six stage, with the three teams from Group A and Group D combining to form one Super Six group, and the same with the top three teams of Group B and Group C in the other group.
The teams will also carry forward their points and net run rates and will play the two sides who, a) were not in their group in the first stage, and b) finished at a different position from them. As an example, if India finish second in Group A, then they will play the winner and second runner-up of Group D. The top two teams from each Super Six group will progress to the semi-finals.
"This is a special event to the ICC and forms an important part of our Global Growth Strategy of raising the profile of women's cricket and further growing the game around the world," ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said in a statement. "It is also a unique opportunity to introduce our vast global audiences to the future stars of the sport.
"We look forward to building on the success from the foundation laid at the inaugural event in South Africa in 2023. We wish all the teams the very best of luck in their preparation and to the Malaysian Cricket Association in organising the event."
"Malaysia is proud to host the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup in 2025, continuing our tradition of supporting the growth of cricket on the global stage," host tournament director Dinesh Muthuraman said. "Women's cricket is experiencing unprecedented growth both in Malaysia and around the world. We are fully confident that this World Cup will further accelerate that momentum, leading to significant developments in the sport, especially for women's cricket."
The tournament was originally supposed to be co-hosted by Thailand, but their withdrawal means Malaysia will host all games. In 2008, Malaysia also hosted the Men's Under-19 World Cup which had future stars like Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Steven Smith, Imad Wasim, Reeza Hendricks, Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Ravindra Jadeja.