Indian women’s cricket team has directly qualified for the Women's Cricket World Cup 2021 after ICC allocated points because of India vs Pakistan scheduled for late last year but got cancelled. The World Cup will be held in New Zealand, February 6 to March 7 in 2021 the International Cricket Council announced on Wednesday.
India now joins the squads of hosts New Zealand, Australia, England and South Africa - five teams who have sealed a direct berth for the quadrennial 50-over World Cup.
Key Takeaways:
- The cancelled India vs Pakistan series, which was to be held between July and November 2019, helped Indian women’s cricket team seal a direct berth for the Women's Cricket World Cup 2021.
- India and Australia are among the five teams to seal direct qualification for the World Cup, scheduled to be played from February 6 to March 7 in 2021 in New Zealand.
- Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka are to battle for the remaining spots in the qualifier, which is scheduled to be played from 3-19 July 2020.
The ICC announced that after its "Technical Committee (TC) has decided that teams will share points in all three series in the ICC Women’s Championship that did not take place during the competition window" -- 2017 to 2020.
Stats and numbers
The Indian team pulled off an incredible game and became the first team to qualify for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in February and reached the final without a single loss. So far, India, who reached the final in the 2017 Women's World Cup, played matches in the ongoing cycle of ICC Women's Championship of which, they have won 10 matches and lost 8.
ODI Captain Mithali Raj-led Indian side last played an ODI series in November 2019. They beat West Indies in West Indies 2-1 in a 3-match series.
"Australia (37 points), England (29), South Africa (25) and now India (23) have qualified by virtue of being the top four. Pakistan (19), New Zealand (17), West Indies (13) and Sri Lanka (5) complete the table," an ICC release said.
"The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier is scheduled to be played from 3-19 July in Sri Lanka, this is subject to review due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” it added.
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India vs Pakistan series cancelled
"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 Boards, it was unable to take place," the release added.
"In respect of the India v Pakistan series, the Technical Committee concluded the series could not be played because of a Force Majeure event after the BCCI demonstrated that it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan that forms part of the ICC Women's Championship. Meanwhile, two other ICC Women's Championship series have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa were to host Australia and Sri Lanka were to host New Zealand in the last round of matches," it concluded.
Ten 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).
Feature Image Credit: BCCIWomen / Twitter
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