Indian Women obtain qualification for 2021 ODI WC with split points against Pakistan, announces ICC

India directly obtained a place in next year’s ODI World Cup after they failed to obtain a visa to travel to Pakistan for the bilateral series. Following that, ICC Women’s Championship Technical Committee invoked a Force Majeure clause to split points between the two for the ODI series. 

With the points, India qualified directly to the mega-event in New Zealand after a top-four finish with 23 points alongside Australia, South Africa and England. Earlier this year, India finished as runners-up to Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia. While four teams have obtained a direct qualification, the other ten teams will fight for three remaining places. 

“With respect to the India v Pakistan series, the TC concluded that 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, which forms a part of the ICC Women’s Championship,” an ICC release stated, reported Indian Express. 

India’s bilateral series against Pakistan was scheduled in the Sixth Round of the qualifying competition, between July and November. ICC’s TC gave a similar fate to the other rounds - South Africa vs Australia; Sri Lanka vs New Zealand.