Ahead of the much-anticipated ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup matches at the Dr. YSR ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium, scheduled to begin next week, the district administration conducted a planning and preparedness meeting to review and finalise arrangements.

The meeting was chaired by District Collector M. N. Harendhira Prasad and ACA Chief Operating Officer Girish Dongre, and attended by Commissioner of Police Shankabrata Bagchi, GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg, ACA Councillor Vishnu Dantu, and other senior officials.

Mr. Harendhira Prasad stressed the need for uninterrupted power supply with robust backup systems at the venue. He also instructed officials to undertake beautification works along team travel routes to enhance the city’s image.

Mr. Bagchi emphasised the need for multiple ticketing options, including digital M-Tickets, e-Tickets, and physical tickets. He called for reinforced security at ticket counters, the introduction of parking QR codes, installation of CCTVs in parking areas, and an upgraded centralised public address system. He added that women police personnel would be deployed for the security of visiting teams.

Mr. Dongre announced that ICC and BCCI officials will attend the marquee India–Australia match on October 12. He said complimentary drinking water facilities would be provided for spectators and designated parking arranged at B Ground, V Convention, and Sanketika College.

Tickets are available on the BookMyShow app, priced at ₹150 for the India–Australia clash and ₹100 for other fixtures. Offline tickets will also be sold at five counters. Mr. Dongre assured that the ACA would coordinate safety measures in association with the district administration and police.

Visakhapatnam will host five matches of the tournament, including two India fixtures. India will face South Africa on October 9 and Australia on October 12. The other matches are South Africa vs Bangladesh (October 13), Australia vs Bangladesh (October 16), and England vs New Zealand (October 26).

The Indian women’s team has already held a series of practice sessions at the stadium in September to fine-tune preparations. While Visakhapatnam has never hosted a Women’s World Cup match before, it did stage a Men’s World Cup fixture in 1996 when Australia beat Kenya by 97 runs. The last Women’s World Cup match in Andhra Pradesh was in 1997 at Vijayawada, where England defeated Pakistan by 230 runs.