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ICC Women’s ODI World Cup Postponed Due To Lack Of Preparation Time For Players

The decision to postpone the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup has nothing to do with safety issues pertaining to COVID-19 in New Zealand.

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Alankrita Arora
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ICC Women’s ODI World Cup has been postponed by a year due to the ongoing pandemic. The concerns around lack of preparation time available to the players led to the decision. The decision to postpone, however, has nothing to do with safety issues pertaining to COVID-19 in New Zealand, the host nation,  the event’s CEO Andrea Nelson said.

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The host nation has done well in combating the virus. As on Tuesday, the country has recorded 1,643 confirmed cases with a majority of them having recovered, making it one of the least affected nations in the world.

“It came down to the ability of the teams to qualify,” Nelson told ‘NZME’, a local media group.  The qualifiers for the tournament were supposed to be held in July, and the showpiece was scheduled to start in February 2021.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Women ICC World Cup postponed due to concerns around lack of preparation time.
  • The decision has nothing to do with safety issues pertaining to COVID-19 in host nation New Zealand.
  • The pinnacle event will be held in 2022 after giving sufficient time to all teams to prepare.

India, England, Australia, South Africa and the host nation had already qualified for the tournament. The countries already qualified for the tournament will retain that status. The three remaining slots will be decided after a qualifying tournament, Times of India reported.

“We’ve done a lot of contingency planning around this event, to give it the best possible chance of proceeding successfully - ultimately the decision to delay it comes down to cricket. No qualifying tournaments have been able to be hold yet, so in order to qualify and then compete in the event in 2021 - it was too risky,” Nelson said.

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New Zealand has planned to host the premier tournament from February 6 to March 7 next year. The decision to delay the 12th edition of the tournament was taken at the ICC Board Meeting held via teleconference on August 7.

Also Read: Sharanya Sadarangani Becomes First Woman Cricketer to Play in ECS T10 League

“We’ve got teams that can’t train, they can’t assemble - in the case of a country like the West Indies they can’t leave their islands to bring the team together - and that’s just not a feasible way to ask a team to prepare for their pinnacle event,” she added.  “Having the tournament in 2022 gives the best possible chance for teams around the world to train, prepare, and come and compete in their pinnacle event. We have absolutely no doubt we’ll be able to pick up those plans and deliver an amazing event a year later,” she said.

Picture Credit: Twitter/BCCIWomen

Alankrita Arora is an intern at SheThePeople.Tv

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