All you need to know about 2025 Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup
Find out when the tournament starts, what the format is, who the defending champions are, and more

The 16 captains for the upcoming U-19 Women's T20 World Cup pose together • Matt King/ICC/Getty Images
India won the first edition in 2023 under Shafali Verma's captaincy in South Africa when they halted England's unbeaten run in the final.
The tournament starts January 18 with Australia, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa and Bangladesh all featuring on the opening day. We could also witness a special first on that day when Nigeria and Samoa play against each other - it's the first women's U-19 World Cup for both. The semi-finals will be played on January 31 and the final is slated for February 2.
It's a 16-team event, just like the previous edition. Apart from Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, it comprises all other ten Full Members, who qualified automatically based on their standings at the inaugural edition, along with Malaysia who secured a direct entry as hosts. The remaining five spots were filled through the regional qualifiers.
Nepal (Asia), USA (Americas), Nigeria (Africa), Samoa (Asia Pacific) and Scotland (Europe). Among these teams, Samoa will be playing at their first-ever ICC tournament - men's or women's. Meanwhile, hosts Malaysia, Nepal, and Nigeria will be playing in their first women's Under-19 World Cup.
Rwanda, Zimbabwe, UAE and Indonesia haven't qualified for this tournament. Rwanda had finished in the top eight in 2023, ahead of four Full Members including their African counterpart Zimbabwe, but had to re-qualify due to rankings criteria, which they failed to.
Unlike the men's Under-19 World Cup, which is a 50-overs event, the women's tournament will be played in a T20 format.
Initially, the tournament was to be jointly hosted by Malaysia and Thailand. However, the ICC had to move the entire tournament to Malaysia because Thailand's venues weren't deemed ready to host the tournament.
You probably remember that for Sachin Tendulkar's 141 not out from the DLF Cup in 2006 against West Indies? Or maybe from having watched Virat Kohli's team lift the Under-19 World Cup in 2008? That ground, once Malaysia's premier cricket venue, is no longer operational after Malaysia Cricket's lease agreement with the land owners ended in 2022.
Matches will be played at four venues: Bayuemas Oval and UKM YSD Oval in Selangor, the JCA Oval in Johor, and Borneo Cricket Ground in Sarawak.
Shafali and Richa Ghosh were part of the inaugural edition as India's captain and vice-captain, respectively. However, the tournament wasn't a launchpad for them as they had already played a fair bit of international cricket by then.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo