As reported earlier, Pakistan and India are the teams that have to share points as the sides failed to play a bilateral series against each other. Which made the Indian women’s cricket team to qualify for the ODI World Cup 2021 by virtue of being the top four.
The Arch-rivals were not able to see each other and hence the series got delayed indefinitely. However, the decision has not settled in the minds of the Pakistani side.
The legal team of Pakistan Cricket Board is studying the verdict. The Pakistani women’s skipper Bismah Maroof pointed out that after a review and understanding of the decision, the legal team may consider going to ICC if it seems necessary.
In a video conference on Tuesday, Maroof was heard saying that the verdict was disappointing. She explained that the Pakistani group had been waiting a long time to play alongside India.
Pakistan’s Skipper Bismah Maroof was critical of the ICC’s decision to split points between India and Pakistan for a bilateral series.
What are your thoughts? Should there have been India-Pak series?#INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/rewyphieO2
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) April 30, 2020
She reveals that the Pakistani Board was working on it but it failed to get any response from the Indian side. The video conference was arranged by PCB. It has to be noted that in light of numerous terrorist attacks and mischiefs on the border, the Indian government has thrown any idea of having a sporting relation with Pakistan off the table.
The tensions have put a brake on the bilateral series against the countries for an indefinite time period. As far as the women’s ODI championship is concerned, Indian and Pakistan were scheduled to face each other in the sixth round of the tournament.
Interestingly, the points from this round play a vital role for a side’s direct admission into the 2021 Women’s World cup. However, the Indian cricketing board, as expected, could not get the necessary clearances from the government. The nod from the establishment was mandatory for the board to host the rivals on Indian soil.
The three matches left off the roster and the ICC was called upon. The technical committee referred to it as a “force majeure event” and divided the points equally. It has to be noted that in a similar situation in the 2014-16 championship cycle, Pakistan was awarded complete points on the grounds of Indian inability to play the series.
With the three valuable points, India reached to 23 and joined SENA nations to get direct entry into the world cup.
Pakistan will, however, feature in the qualifiers scheduled in Sri Lanka. Maroof said that Indo-Pak matches are a joy for fans throughout the globe and Pakistan has always tried to keep politics off the table while facilitating sports.
She added that the result, irrespective of the winner, of series, would have been acceptable to her if the matches were actually played. She pointed out that this can be considered as a positive start for the Pakistani side as they don’t get these many matches and qualifiers would be a great practice for the big tournament.
She did not hesitate to point that India got the points without any competitive cricket and wished them luck. She also used the platform to laud the veteran Sana Mir who retired recently from international settings. Mahroof called her the ambassador of the game and recognized the vital role she has played in the growth of women’s cricket in not just Pakistan but throughout the globe
