Chennai Super Kings Academy becomes New Zealand's training base for Women's ODI World Cup preparations

New Zealand women's cricket team is currently training at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Academy, which is s key part of their preparations for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2025. New Zealand women’s team head coach Ben Sawyer has praised the team's training camp in Chennai, which is a key part of their preparations for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup. He described the experience of practicing in the spin-friendly conditions at the Chennai Super Kings Academy as incredible.

New Zealand make CSK Academy their base for Women's ODI World Cup preparations

The squad in Chennai includes several familiar faces from the team that won last year's Women's T20 World Cup, such as seam-bowling all-rounder Jess Kerr and batters Georgia Plimmer and Brooke Halliday. The team is also focusing on developing new talent, with emerging players like Izzy Sharp, Flora Devonshire, and Emma McLeod included in the squad.

“Yeah, 100% correct. It’s currently winter in New Zealand, there’s no cricket and we’re nearly two months out of the World Cup. So, to have that prep time in India, we’ve been able to bring seven contracted players and then three of our players of interest along. So, the girls that we think will play lots of cricket in India in the future as well. So yeah, it’s been an amazing experience so far," Sawyer was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

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The squad currently in Chennai features several players who were part of New Zealand's Women's T20 World Cup-winning team last year. These include the seam-bowling all-rounder Jess Kerr and batters Georgia Plimmer and Brooke Halliday. The team is also using this camp to nurture new talent, with promising young players Izzy Sharp, Flora Devonshire, and Emma McLeod joining the squad to gain experience.

“It’s hugely beneficial and even more so this year because just with the FTP cycle, we’ve had no official matches since February. So to get these three one-day games in Chennai, to get two or three games in Dubai against England, a really strong opposition, will be great and then we also get the two World Cup warm-up games. So that’s seven or eight games we’re going to get in similar conditions. Yeah, that’s just huge for us," added Sawyer.

The ICC Women's ODI Cricket World Cup 2025 is scheduled to begin on September 30. Co-hosts India and Sri Lanka will face each other in the tournament's opening match at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Other notable early matches include a highly anticipated clash between India and Pakistan on October 5, and the defending champions, Australia, starting their title defense on October 1 against their rivals, New Zealand. The runner-up from the last Women’s World Cup, England, will play their first match on October 3 against South Africa.

The tournament is set to conclude with the final on November 2. The venue for the final will depend on which teams qualify. If Pakistan makes it to the championship match, it will be held in Colombo. However, if any of the other seven teams qualify for the final, it will be hosted in Bengaluru.