India and Australia have directly qualified for ICC Women’s World Cup 2021, along with England, New Zealand, and South Africa. The ICC announced through its release on Wednesday.
The Indian women’s team was slated to play Pakistan last year, but the bilateral series did not take place despite efforts made from both ends.
India reached the finals of the World Cup in 2017, facing defeat at the hands of host England. The Blue Brigade recently participated in the T20 World Cup, where they also suffered a loss in the finals of the coveted tournament.
“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,” the ICC stated.
The last time India featured in ODI format was against West Indies where the Mithali Raj-led side defeated the Caribbean side by 2-0, in November 2019.
UPDATE🚨: India qualify for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 to be played in New Zealand. #TeamIndia
Details: https://t.co/K8692jvQsK pic.twitter.com/OL5i4nbEHA
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) April 15, 2020
“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,” added the apex cricketing board.
“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,” ICC’s press release concluded.
The rest of the teams will progress to the world tournament after clashing against each other in the qualifiers scheduled in July in Sri Lanka. The fate of the competition lies in the recovery from worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
