In a major decision on Tuesday, the ICC confirmed that the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States of America, followed by the return of a world event to Pakistan in nearly three decades when the passionate country hosts the 2025 Champions Trophy.
USA will be co-hosting its first major ICC event along with the West Indies as cricket takes a leap towards entering the sleeping giant of a market which the ICC has long desired to press its footholds into.
It is hoped that co-hosting a T20 World Cup in the United States will also accelerate cricket’s push for reinclusion at the Olympics with a $3 million bid ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles games.
In another great news for cricket, Pakistan has been given the hosting rights for the 2025 Champions Trophy, a tournament that Pakistan will host as defending champions after an eight-year hiatus. It will also be the first such world event to be held in Pakistan since 1996, when it co-hosted the ODI World Cup along with India and Sri Lanka.
These are two of the eight major events for men’s cricket that will be played in the next rights cycle spanning 2024 to 2031. The cycle includes two ODI World Cups (2027 and 2031), four T20 World Cups (2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030) and two editions of the revived Champions Trophy (2025 and 2029).
The ODI World Cup will move to Africa for the first time since 2003, when South Africa co-hosts the event with Zimbabwe and Namibia. While SA and Zimbabwe had hosted the 2003 edition, it will be the first time ever that a set of World Cup games, in any format, are played in Namibia.
The next edition of the tournament in 2031, however, will return to the subcontinent when India and Bangladesh join hands to host the coveted event. In a reflection of world cricket’s dependence on the Indian market, India is also given the 2029 edition of the Champions Trophy, before which the country will also co-host the 2026 T20 World Cup with Sri Lanka.
The T20 World Cup has more of an even spread than the last cycle when the Big 3 hosted all of the major events. After USA and Sri Lanka co-host the 2024 and 2026 editions, New Zealand and Scotland, Ireland will get to do the same for 2028 and 2030 editions along with neighbours Australia and England, respectively.
