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The International Cricket Council (ICC) on November 27 called off ongoing qualifiers for Women’s ODI World Cup 2022 in Harare due to threat posed by new Covid-19 in African continent. The Covid-19 impact has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh as they automatically qualify for the mega event next year on the basis of their respective rankings in the format. The decision was taken after a member of Sri Lanka team support staff tested positive for the novel coronavirus ahead of clash against West Indies on Saturday (November 27). The other two matches of the day were Zimbabwe vs Pakistan and USA vs Thailand.
"The qualifiers will now be decided according to the team rankings as detailed in the tournament playing conditions. Therefore, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies will now progress to the event in New Zealand," said the ICC in a statement.
The new Omicron virus has governments concerned including African countries who have introduced travel restrictions to prevent the spread of virus. The qualifiers would have helped in deciding final three qualifiers for the World Cup 2022 which are now Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh.
"We are incredibly disappointed to have to cancel the remainder of this event but with travel restrictions from a number of African countries being imposed at such short notice there was a serious risk that teams would be unable to return home," ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley said.
On the same day, Cricket South Africa (CSA) also confirmed that Netherlands ongoing tour has been called off. Amidst new Covid-19 variant, there are clouds of uncertainties over India’s tour of South Africa as well.
