India have qualified for next year’s Women’s Cricket World Cup after the International Cricket Council (ICC) late on Wednesday declared that the points from a canceled series against Pakistan would be shared.
The series, part of the ICC Women’s Championship, was unable to be played after India’s governing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that it could not get government clearance to host Pakistan with tensions rising between the neighbors over the disputed Kashmir region.
The ICC declared the circumstances a force majeure event and awarded the teams three points each.
Two other final-round series canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic — South Africa versus Australia and Sri Lanka versus New Zealand — also saw the six points on offer shared.
The decision means that India sealed the final automatic qualifying spot on 23 points behind Australia (37), holders England (29) and South Africa (25) for the 50-over competition next year alongside hosts New Zealand.
“The technical committee concluded that the [India versus Pakistan] series could not be played because of a force majeure event,” an ICC statement said.
“The BCCI demonstrated that it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan,” it added.
The fierce rivals have not played a bilateral series since 2012-2013, when the Pakistan men crossed the border for a series of one-day internationals.
With their decades-old dispute over Kashmir at a new peak, India has stopped all sports teams from traveling to Pakistan and they have only clashed at major international events, such as last year’s 50-over men’s Cricket World Cup in England.
Pakistan, who finished four points below India, would now seek one of the three remaining places at next year’s Women’s Cricket World Cup in a 10-team qualifying tournament in Sri Lanka originally scheduled for July 3 to 19, but which could be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
INJURY TURMOIL: Despite stunning French Open champions Paolini and Errani to advance, Chan was forced to pull out after her partner’s tearful women’s singles defeat Last year’s mixed doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Poland’s Jan Zielinski on Monday crashed out of the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, leaving the Taiwanese star focused on pursuing a fifth women’s doubles title in London, while a partner injury forced compatriot Chan Hao-ching to give up on her doubles campaign. Hsieh and Zielinksi, who last year also won the Australia Open title, narrowly lost their opening set 7-6 (9/7), before Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani stunned the former champions 6-3 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The Taiwanese-Polish duo had been dominant in the first two
RSS