India books berth in ICC Women's World Cup 2021 after series against Pakistan cancelled

Dubai, April 16: India booked the berth in ICC Women's World Cup 2021, announced the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday after the ICC Championship series was cancelled against Pakistan as BCCI did not obtain the necessary government clearance.

 

 

The India-Pakistan series was supposed to be kick-start 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.

 

 

"In respect of the India v Pakistan series, the TC 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," BCCI said in a statement.

 

However, it was reported that the teams will share points that did not take place. "The ICC Women’s Championship 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," it further added.

 

Meanwhile, the two other ICC Women’s Championship series; South Africa was to host Australia and Sri Lanka were to host New Zealand have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

All the eight teams in the 2017-2020 edition of the ICC Women’s Championship play each other in the three-match series. The host of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021, New Zealand, and the next four highest-placed teams on the points table qualify directly for One-Day International cricket’s event.

 

Going by the rules, Australia (37), 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) completed the table. The World Cup qualifiers are scheduled to be played from 3-19 July in Sri Lanka, however, it is uncertain given the coronavirus pandemic.

 

On the other hand, the 10 teams competing for the three remaining places in the World Cup 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 the Netherlands (Europe).