A Women's World Cup in the shortest format carrying dreams of 12 nations

ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026

The 10th edition of ICC Women's T20 World Cup hosted by England and Wales Cricket Board is almost here. This will be the first ever Women's World Cup with 12 Teams divided in two groups of 6 each. New Zealand will be looking to defend their title from 2024 when they defeated South Africa by 32 runs in the UAE. Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland sealed the qualifying spots from the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier hosted by Nepal in early 2026. The opening game will be played on June 12 between hosts England and Sri Lanka at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland are the three sides participating in this year's World Cup who are yet to register a win in the T20 World Cup. Thailand is the only other winless side in the history of this event qualifying once in 2020. Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the only two teams who have been part of the every edition since it's inception but have never made it to the top four. Two teams which have made the knock-out stages but have never won the World Cup are India and South Africa.

Who are the front-runners and why?

Australia. Seven time 50-over World Cup winners. Six time T20 World Cup winners. The Aussie Women are favorites in every ICC tournament they are involved such is their dominance in the sport. They have completed a hat-trick of T20 titles twice in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2018, 2020, 2023. Australia have undergone a couple of leadership changes in the last three years since Meg Lanning announced her International retirement. Alyssa Healey was named as her successor who herself retired from International cricket at the start of this year. Sophie Molineux, who has captained the side in 6 T20Is will lead the side in this year's competition leaving Australia in a slightly vulnerable position.

The squad is filled with match-winners. A strong top-three of Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney and Georgia Voll followed by world-class all-rounders Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland and Tahlia McGrath. Pace-bowling has a blend of experience and youth namely Megan Schutt, the highest-wicket taker in T20 World Cups, Kim Garth and 20-year old speedster Lucy Hamilton. Alana King and Georgia Wareham will partner captain Molinuex and Gardner in the spin department. Australia has been knocked out in the semi-finals of the last two ICC championships and have been the least T20I playing team since the last T20 World Cup among the participating teams but the strength of the squad puts them in pole position to win again.

South Africa. The Proteas Women have been completed a hat-trick of being runners-up in the last three ICC tournaments. Captain Laura Wolvaardt has led the side admirably and she will be aiming to finally touch the ultimate silverware in white-ball cricket, something even the Proteas Men have not achieved yet. Coach Mandla Mashimbyi has been instrumental in bringing back the experience of Shabnim Ismail and Dane Van Niekerk into the side for this year's marquee competition.

Players like Marizanne Kapp, Nadine De Klerk and Chloe Tyron have shown their ability to snatch victory from losing positions multiple times in the past. Wolvaardt's opening partner and ex-skipper Sune Luus is the most experienced player in this squad. Exciting 20-year old finisher Kayla Reyneke will get a chance to prove her prowess at the biggest stage having already caught a few eyeballs in his short career so far. With negligible weakness, South Africa looks primed to win their maiden ICC trophy if they can conjure up a complete show especially in the knock-out stages.

This will be the first time 12 teams will be participating in an ICC Women's cricket competition

England. Winners of the inaugural ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2009, England will be quietly confident of repeating the feat from 17 years ago. Led by star all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, they are hosting the championship only second time after the victorious campaign in 2009 which adds another layer of conviction to the second ranked side in the ICC WT20I rankings. England's recent series wins against New Zealand and India in the absence of their regular skipper has given them much needed momentum before entering the event on home soil.

The hosts have been placed in a slightly easier Group B which should make their path to the semi-finals straight-forward. Presence of Heather Knight and Danni-Wyatt Hodge with skipper Nat in the top-order adds a sense of calm. Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson can be dangerous with the bat at the back-end. England possesses probably the best spin attack in the competition thanks to Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith and vice-captain Charlie Dean. The unplayable Lauren Bell will lead the pace-bowling attack which includes Lauren Filer and Issy Wong. The gloves will be taken by unarguably world's best wicket-keeper Amy Jones. 

Recent injuries to pace-bowling all-rounders Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam has weakened the chances of India this year due to a lack to proper sixth-bowler. Although Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur can fill-in the required overs, they are likely to be targeted by the opposition batters in unfriendly conditions and might rob the Asian side's dream of achieving back-to-back ICC trophies. 

Another silent contender for this year's silverware might be West Indies. The team is filled with a variety of all-rounders and a unique stability in their batting order, something which has always been missing in the Caribbean side. With dangerous finishers and an abundance of bowling options, if their leader Hayley Matthews brings her A-game we might just see a huge upset giving them their second T20 World Cup title, just like 10 years ago.

Defending Champions New Zealand under their new captain Amelia Kerr will be saying goodbye to veterans Suzie Bate, the highest run-scorer in T20 World Cups, Franchise league globetrotter Sophie Devine and pace-bowling spearhead Lea Tahuhu. Even though their core remains strong, the White Ferns lack a fear-factor and an unfortunate Group Stage exit looms if both the hosts and the Windies team secure a win over them in Group B.

Farewell edition for numerous veterans?

Only seven Women cricketers namely, Ellyse Perry, Harmanpreet Kaur, Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Marizanne Kapp, Stefanie Taylor and Chamari Athapaththu have been part of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup since the tournament's inception in 2009. Bates and Taylor are the top-two run scorers in the history of T20 World Cups while Taylor also features in the top-five wicket-takers with Perry. Harman is one of the six century-makers in T20 World Cups whereas Devine, Kapp and Athapaththu continue as match-winners for their respective sides.

This World Cup will feature a number of Women cricketers who are approaching the twilight of their careers. Players like Heather Knight, Tazmin Brits, Afy Fletcher and Nilakshi De Silva are approaching the wrong side of thirties. These has been a host of retirement announcements already. New Zealand will be the worst hit side with the trio of Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu leaving International cricket after this year's edition leaving the side short of 439 T20I matches. Megan Schutt, the highest-wicket in T20 World Cups has also hinted this will be her last ICC tournament. 37-year old Shabnim Ismail, has taken back retirement specifically for this year's championship, probably her last in International cricket.

The next Women's T20 World Cup will be held two years later in 2028 with a lot of these players eyeing that as the last hurrah in T20I format. But it's safe to say that we might be seeing the curtains fall on numerous legendary International Women cricketers giving way to the next-generation although a few them will still be active in the franchise circuit before hanging up their boots entirely. 

Chance for Underdogs to punch up

Netherlands, who became the 13th nation ever to qualify for the ICC Women's T20 World Cup will be buzzing with excitement. Placed in Group A with giants like Australia, South Africa and India, their main aim will be to score a win at their debut tournament. Netherlands already secured a win against Bangladesh in the tri-series last week, their biggest win in the T20I format so far. Bangladesh will be their opponents in the first Group Stage match and the Dutch Women will be hoping to go one-step further. A win against other oppositions appears doubtful.

 Netherlands will their first ever ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2026

Scotland, another Associate nation have already gotten a taste of the competition in 2024 when they qualified ahead of Ireland but lost all the group games. They are slotted in Group B and start their journey against Ireland. The familiar conditions of England hands the Scottish side a slight advantage especially since a few members of their squad are actively involved in the English domestic cups and the Hundred. Scotland defeated both Netherlands and Bangladesh in the lead up the World Cup and are in fine form. Although a place in the semi-finals is out of question, Scotland can seriously challenge the Irish side and Sri Lanka Women for their maiden victory in this year's edition.

Ireland were added to the ICC Women's Championship in 2022 which acts as a qualifying event for the 50-over World Cup. Their participation added a number of T20I fixtures against strong opponents which were otherwise hard to come by. In the last four years, the Irish team has won three-match series against Pakistan & Bangladesh, drew 1-1 against England & Sri Lanka and upset sides like West Indies & South Africa in this format. They are yet to score a win at the T20 World Cups in 17 attempts. A brilliant run of form in the last two years and led by Gaby Lewis who is in excellent form can finally turn the fortunes around for the European nation. This World Cup presents the best chance for Ireland to roll a few heads around and give their fans joyous memories back home.

Bangladesh, another team at the bottom of the pile in the shortest format will be playing their seventh consecutive T20 World Cup since the event was extended to 10 teams in 2014. This is the first time Bangladesh will be playing an International match in England and the total unknown of the conditions will turn out to be their biggest Achilles Heel. Bangladesh are only carrying two pacers in their squad and have been placed in the tougher Group A. An upset at the hands of Netherlands might not be totally out of the equation but the Asian side will be looking to push their arch-rivals Pakistan after already winning the 50-over World Cup against them last year.

ICC finally acts on the requests of Associate nations

The T20I format has been in existence since 2004 when England and New Zealand Women faced off at the County Cricket Ground at Hove. ICC hosted the first ever ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 with 12 men's side and the maiden Women's T20 World Cup came two years later with eight teams. The shortest format was always seen as Cricket's best chance to expand globally and act as an inclusive entity for newer nations generating diverse audience for the sport which has stayed within the radius of only a few cricket boards for years. The ICC though did not pay heed to any such requests for almost 20 years.

The turning point came in 2024, when ICC took the sport to USA and expanded the participating teams to 20 for the men's T20 World Cup in a bid to secure a place at the 2028 LA Olympics and the effects of that move was seen immediately when Italy secured their maiden appearance and capped it off with a historic win at the 2026 World Cup in India. Women's T20 World Cup, which has been exclusively played by only 10 teams since 2014 will also see an increase to 12 from this edition in England.

Netherlands immediately grabbed on to the chance becoming the 13th team to feature in T20 World Cup's history. The added spots have given other Associate nations extra motivation to build towards future editions for a chance to compete against the Elites of the game. There is a plan to further increase the spots to 16 in 2030 which will act as a milestone moment for Women's cricket giving chances to brand new teams at ICC's marquee event. For the Associate nations, more fixtures against stronger sides in the form of bi-lateral series still remains a distant dream but if they can manage to put in a few stunning show at these highly-watched encounters, we might see a new enterprise taking shape in the future.

Exiled Afghani Women to make an appearance in the stands

Thanks to the continued efforts of ICC, Cricket Australia, England and Wales Cricket Board, BCCI, MCC, former Australian cricketer Mel Jones and other people involved behind-the-scenes, we might see the refugee Afghanistan Women's team make an appearance in the stands at this year's T20 World Cup. After Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan 5 years ago, several Women cricketers managed to escape the country and set up their base in Australia and other countries.

Afghanistan's Refugee Women Team has been living in Australia since the Taliban take over in 2021

Cricket Australia have provided constant support to their Refugee team even organizing an exhibition match against Cricket Without Border XI in Melbourne on January 30, 2025. They visited India in 2025 when the 50-over World Cup was organized and played a few friendly games on that tour. The patience of Afghani Women has finally bore fruits this year. More than 20 members of the side will be travelling to England and play a few T20 games against club teams and will be given a chance to attend the knock-out games of this year's World Cup from the stands.

Broadcaster and a backbone for this side, Mel Jones mentioned in an interview last week they are looking to materialize a plan with the ICC and other governing bodies with a vision of including this Refugee side in the qualification process for the next T20 World Cup in Pakistan two years later. FIFA has already recognized the Afghanistan Women Football team and it will be a historic moment if the same can be done by ICC quickly marking a huge step forward for the exiled players and the sport in general showing much-needed inclusivity.

References: Statsguru by ESPNCricinfo
By Shekhar Tomar

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