ISLAMABAD, Apr 2 :The strength in the depth of women\u2019s cricket will be on full display at the upcoming ICC Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup 2025 Qualifier in Pakistan.
\nICC Manager Women\u2019s Cricket and former India international cricketer, Snehal Pradhan, is looking forward to the event in Pakistan where six teams will compete for two spots at the Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup in India later this year.
\nHosts Pakistan will be joined by ICC Full Members Bangladesh, Ireland and West Indies along with Associate Members Thailand and Scotland, for the Qualifier, and Pradhan believes that with the standard rising across the board, predicting who will come through qualifying is almost impossible, said a press release.<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cCricket with context, huge outcomes on the line, great opportunities so it\u2019s a brilliant tournament, everyone is excited about it. We\u2019ve got four full members, two associate members, so this is an extremely competitive pack of six teams.<\/p>\n
The growth of the game has been evident across the board in recent years, with New Zealand and South Africa playing out the last ICC Women\u2019s T20 World Cup Final, while Nigeria and USA produced some stellar performances at the ICC U19 Women\u2019s T20 World Cup earlier this year.
\n\u201cWe had a group of 16 teams who were eligible for an eight-team event. The volume of matches that we have seen in the calendar because of the structure that the ICC Women\u2019s Championship has meant that the standard of cricket has gone up.
\nThe result of this growth is a move towards expansion, both at T20 level, and also in ODIs, with the next World Cup set to be contested by 10 teams.
\nFormer Pakistan captain Sana Mir has welcomed that decision, and the approach taken by the ICC to grow the game.
\nLooking forward to the event on home soil, she said, \u201cOne of the great things about the ICC Women\u2019s Championship, which I benefited from hugely in my career, is that it has been expanded to 10 teams. I feel that plays a huge role, especially for countries like Bangladesh and Ireland now that they have been part of that.
\n\u201cIt is a very exciting time in women\u2019s cricket and if we keep doing things right, there will be more than four or five teams who people want to see playing against each other.
\n\u201cIn the last World Cup, a lot of matches went down to the last couple of overs and that\u2019s what you want to see as an audience. Women\u2019s cricket is providing that.\u201d
\nBismah Maroof, who succeeded Sana as Pakistan captain, added, \u201cWomen\u2019s cricket has improved massively in the past few years and it\u2019s going from strength to strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe associate countries are playing really well, Scotland and Thailand have come a long way and as a full member country, Ireland have grown a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, Apr 2 :The strength in the depth of women\u2019s cricket will be on full display at the upcoming ICC Women\u2019s Cricket World Cup 2025 Qualifier in Pakistan. ICC Manager Women\u2019s Cricket and former India international cricketer, Snehal Pradhan, is looking forward to the event […]<\/p>\n
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