Cricket
Will ODI World Cup runner-up India forced to play Qualifiers?
India's Women Cricket team were the runner-up in the last edition of the ODI World Cup. But according to the rules of ICC, the team could be forced to play qualifiers to book a spot at the mega event.
Indian women's cricket team finished second best at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup when it was beaten by Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on 8 March. The team's focus now shifts to the 50-over World Cup which will be hosted by New Zealand next year.
India finished as the runner-up in the previous edition of the 50-over World Cup which was held in England. The Mithali Raj-led side came short against Heather Knight's England .
Although, India had a great run in that tournament but the team has not yet confirmed its berth for the next the next edition of the World Cup.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the schedule for the women's World Cup and India's name was missing from the list of the teams which have already qualified for the tournament.
According the rules of the tournament eight nations are going to play at the quadrennial event. Five those eight teams will get automatic qualification including hosts New Zealand. Three other teams will have to play in qualifiers to book their spot in the World Cup.
New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England are the confirmed participants for the event. India, although ranked No. 2 in the 50-over format ranking has still not qualified and it is likely that it won't qualify if ICC decided to award qualifying points to arch rival Pakistan.
What actually happened?
Due to political tensions between India and Pakistan, India didn't play a three-match bilateral qualifying series against Pakistan. According to the rules of ICC India was not awarded any points for the series.
The rules of the ICC suggest that a team needs to play certain number of qualifying series.
Since the end of the 2017 World Cup India have been good form in ODIs. In the ICC Women’s Championship, they have registered strong wins over the more stronger teams like New Zealand and England both home and away. India also beat South Africa on their turf for the first time in the history. India also notched up expected series wins against Sri Lanka and the Windies away from home. The only series they lost was to Australia, who registered a 3-0 series sweep over India.
India has won by all its qualifying series by a 2-1 margin even dropping a game against last-placed Sri Lanka, as well as a surprise defeat to a depleted West Indies. Had India swept even one of those two series, along with the rest of their results, they would have been at the top of the points table, likely to finish in the top four.
How can India qualify for the World Cup?
India's chances of qualifying for the World Cup depends on ICC's call. If ICC decision goes in India's favour then the points from the India-Pakistan series will be split and India could be the fifth team to qualify for the tournament. If the decision goes in Pakistan's favour then India will have to play qualifiers in Sri Lanka.
But as things stand at the moment, Pakistan is more likely to fetch the points as it was India's call to not play the series in Pakistan.
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