Did you know? Recently, India secured direct qualification for the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in 2021, with Australia, England, South Africa and hosts New Zealand, after the ICC technical committee decided to split the points reserved for their canceled series against Pakistan last year.
“The 10 teams vying for the three remaining places in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 will be the hosts, Sri Lanka, along with Pakistan and West Indies from the ICC Women’s Championship, the two other teams with ODI status, Bangladesh and Ireland, and the winners of the five regional qualifiers – Thailand (Asia), Zimbabwe (Africa), Papua New Guinea (East Asia Pacific), United States of America (Americas) and Netherlands (Europe).”
However, as decided the series could not move forward as BCCI made a point that “it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances”. Further, the matter was discussed with the Technical Committee which cited it as a Force Majeure event, thereby concluding that the points are to be shared between the two teams. Subsequently, India’s position in the top four on the Championship table was confirmed, as a result of the 2021 World Cup qualification that was declared.
A glimpse of the India-Pakistan series
Before the above verdict was passed, India had 20 points while Pakistan had 16. However, there were as many as six points in the balance after the BCCI canceled to host the series owing to very sensitive political tensions between the two countries. If the points must have been considered as ‘forfeited by India’, as was the case in the 2014-6 cycle, Pakistan would have definitely made it through.
The ICC stated, “The India-Pakistan series was originally scheduled in the sixth round of the competition, between July and November 2019, but despite the best efforts of both the boards, it was unable to take place.”
As for now, at the end of the Championship cycle, India has 23 points and is fourth on the table, while Pakistan has 19 points. It was also decided to split points for the South Africa v Australia and Sri Lanka v New Zealand series which were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As for Pakistan, they will have to go through the Qualifier route, which is to take place from July 3-19 in Sri Lanka, although it’s ‘subject to review’ now due to the ongoing pandemic.
Final note
Hopefully, the series will resume soon once the pandemic is sustained successfully. Meanwhile, stay tuned, stay home, and stay indoors!
