Billie Jean King to attend T20 World Cup final on International Women’s Day

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 starting February 21. The mega extravaganza is being hosted by Australia.

King will be present at the final on March 8 to be part of the historic opportunity to set a new benchmark for attendance at a women’s sporting fixture. The current record of 90,185 was set at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final at the Rose Bowl in the United States.

King, who has won 39 Grand Slam titles, was recently named on top of the list of ‘Women Who Changed the World in the Last Century’ by Newsweek magazine. In addition to that, King will also headline a special International Women’s Day event on Friday (March 6), in Melbourne, as the keynote speaker at the Change Our Game Lunch.

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Speaking about the development, King said, “It is an honour to be part of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the International Women’s Day celebrations planned in Melbourne. This year, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Original 9 and the birth of women’s professional tennis, and what we did to change tennis and all sports, we hope to bring that same vision for equality, opportunity and acceptance to the World Cup this March.”

“We are absolutely thrilled that Billie Jean King, the global pioneer in equality through sport, will be joining us for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final," said Nick Hockley, ICC T20 World Cup 2020 local organising committee CEO. "We thank Billie Jean for her inspirational leadership as we count down to what we hope will be a fantastic celebration that helps accelerate the current momentum in the development of cricket and all sports for women and girls."

King has also featured in a short film released by the ICC T20 World Cup celebrating stories of trailblazing women recently. International music star Katy Perry will also be performing at the final.