ICC Women's ODI World Cup 2021: India qualifies by virtue of being in top 4, join New Zealand, Australia, England

The Indian women’s cricket team have qualified for the ODI World Cup 2021 by virtue of being the top four.

The decision comes after ICC Women’s Championship Technical Committee (TC) decided that teams will share points in all three series in the ICC Women’s Championship which did not take place during the competition window.

The host New Zealand, along with the next four highest-placed teams on the points table qualify directly. India (23) join Australia (37 points), England (29) and South Africa (25). Pakistan (19), New Zealand (17), West Indies (13) and Sri Lanka (5) complete the table.

Initially, there were debates on who should progress between India and Pakistan as the two had a series to be played between them.

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 the boards, it was unable to take place.

The TC stated that as the series could not be played because of a Force Majeure event after the BCCI said they were unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow the team to participate in the bilateral series, which forms a part of the ICC Women’s Championship, Hindustan Times reported.

The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier is scheduled to be played from July 3-19 in Sri Lanka, whicj=h will depend on the COVID-19 pandemic review.