Yet again BCCI’s letter for the bilateral series between India and Pakistan team has been sent to the Indian government. However, this time, it is to host the Pakistan Women Cricket Team in India in order to get the chance for a direct qualification in the upcoming Women World Cup.
As a part of the Women Championship, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has sought for a permission of the Indian government to host the Pakistan women team. They need to host the rivals as a part of ICC Championship, which will see them get the spot in ICC Women World Cup 2021.
BCCI Awaits For Government Clearance:
In the letter written to the Indian government, Saba Karim Explained that the ICC conducts a Women Championship, where the teams need to face each other in the home and away basis. The format of the game will be 50 overs each.
“As per the schedule of the event, BCCI is to host Pakistan women’s team for at least three ODIs in India between July and November. BCCI would like to seek necessary permission from the government of India before giving its consent to ICC on this subject,” the letter, accessed by TOI, says.
It is yet to be decided whether India will forfeit the series if not cleared by the government. But that would also keep the team away from playing a series in Pakistan under the Women’s Championship.
“The ICC will deal with it if BCCI is unable to host Pakistan. It will be dealt with at that point based on the facts. There’s no determined time frame for BCCI to announce the schedule but they are encouraged to do it as early as possible,” sources in ICC revealed.
Further, he mentioned that the results of the series will be the major factor for the ICC rankings to the teams, which will be the main criteria for the direct entry to the ICC World Cup 2021.
Despite the tensions between the two countries, India and Pakistan have been playing each other in world events and recently battled it out twice in the Champions Trophy in England in June. The women’s team, which reached the final of the women’s World Cup, too played against Pakistan in the round robin stage of the tournament.