India to defend its ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup Title in Malaysia

India under 19 women's cricket team led by Captain Nikki Prasad will try to defend its ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup title as the 2nd ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025 starts in Malaysia. 

The 2nd ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup is being organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Malaysia from 18 January to 2 February 2025.

Indian team won the inaugural ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 under Shaifali Verma’s captaincy by defeating England in the final at Potchefstroom South Africa.

The World Cup will be played in 20 overs format and is for women players below 19 years of age.

Team at the World Cup

Sixteen teams are participating in the 2nd ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025. The team has been divided into four groups.

• Group A: Sri Lanka, India, West Indies, Malaysia
• Group B: England, Pakistan, USA, Ireland
• Group C: New Zealand, Nigeria, Samoa, South Africa
• Group D: Bangladesh, Australia,, Nepal, Scotland

All ten full members of the ICC qualified automatically for the tournament based on their position in the first World Cup in South Africa. 

Malaysia gained direct entry due to it being the host.

Five teams qualified by winning the respective continental qualifier tournament

Qualifiers Team

• The five qualifier teams are Nepal (Asia), USA (Americas), Nigeria (Africa), Samoa (Asia Pacific) and Scotland (Europe). 
• Samoa, Malaysia, Nepal, and Nigeria will be playing in their first women's Under-19 World Cup.

Format of the Tournament 

Each team will play the other sides in the round-robin format in the group stage.

From each group, the top three sides will progress to the Super Six stage.

The 12 sides in the Super Six stage will be further divided into two groups. In the Super Six stage the top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals to be played on 31 January, with the final will be held on 2 February 2025.

About the International Cricket Council (ICC)

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of men's and women's cricket.

Members: 108 member countries 

Full members: 12 countries that are eligible to play test matches(India, Pakistan, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, West Indies, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand)

Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Chairman: Jay Shah