The International Cricket Council (ICC), in an effort to calm down the situation between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), decided to hold India vs Pakistan matches at neutral venues in the future. The strategy was fairly successful at the 2025 Champions Trophy however, a few players of other countries were not happy with the decision and they said that India was having an unfair advantage as they were not required to travel out of Dubai.
Monsoon mishap hits ICC Women’s ODI World Cup
Still, the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup has been anything but smooth. After India was initially named the host, Sri Lanka was also made a co-host in order to provide a neutral venue for Pakistan, a team that declined to play in India. Now, half of the games that were supposed to take place at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo have been disrupted by heavy rain. Graeme Swann, the former England spinner and 2017 World Cup winner, expressed his disappointment with the ICC's handling of the event.
“I don’t really know what anybody was expecting, to be completely honest. You have a tournament in Sri Lanka during the monsoon season; it pretty much rains at the same time every single day. It’s ruined this World Cup – it’s been a real shame. You don’t want to come into a 50-over World Cup going, ‘Oh, well, let’s hope we get a T20 tonight if it rains a little bit.’ It’s been a little bit too predictable and really disappointing,” the former spinner told BBC Radio 5 Live.
The criticism also extended to match timings. Instead of the usual 3 PM start, games could have begun earlier, around 10 or 11 AM, to avoid rain interruptions. New Zealand captain Sophie Devine had suggested this approach after her team lost potential victories due to rain in Colombo.
“I toured Sri Lanka 10 years ago in October, and every single one of our training sessions got rained out every single afternoon. The games in Sri Lanka could have, and should have, started earlier – that’s the only way you could have got the games unaffected,” the former spinner added.
The ICC’s handling of the scheduling has sparked frustration among players and fans alike, raising questions about planning future tournaments in regions prone to seasonal rains.
