MUMBAI: 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.
In respect of the India v Pakistan series, the TC concluded the series could not be played because of a Force Majeure event. What is worth noting is that said Force Majeure event was NOT the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doffing its cap to the power India wields as the economic heartbeat of world cricket, the ICC has effectively placed the BCCI’s inability to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan, which forms part of the ICC Women’s Championship, in the category of a Force Majeure event.
While making its declaration, 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 (emphasis ours) boards, it was unable to take place.
With this case as a precedent, SportzPower expects that the template has been set for the ICC World Test Championship when it comes to potential India-Pakistan Test match-ups. Ergo, there will be no India-Pakistan contest in the ICC World Test Championship.
Realpolitik at play? But of course. The best option available for the World Test Championship in the prevailing circumstances, it has to be acknowledged and stated for the record.
Meanwhile, two other ICC Women’s Championship series have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic (a Force Majeure event in the real sense). South Africa were to host Australia and Sri Lanka were to host New Zealand in the last round of matches.
6 NZ cities to host the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021
All eight teams in the 2017-2020 edition of the ICC Women’s Championship play each other in 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 pinnacle event.
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) completed the table.
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. 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 the Netherlands (Europe).
