‘Really hard to pick the two teams going through’

The strength and depth of women's cricket will be on full display as six teams compete for the final two spots at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in India later this year.

The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 Qualifier, set to take place in Pakistan, will feature the hosts alongside Full Members Bangladesh, Ireland and West Indies, as well as Associate Members Thailand and Scotland.

Former Team India player Snehal Pradhan shares her journey as a trailblazer for covering women's cricket, with thanks to NIUM

Snehal Pradhan, ICC Manager - Women's Cricket and former India international cricketer, emphasised the significance of the tournament, stating, "It's very high stakes cricket in terms of what is up for grabs.

"The last Cricket World Cup in New Zealand was an extremely successful event. We saw just how high-profile that event is and that is the opportunity that two of the six teams are going to be fighting it out for.

"It really is hard to pick the two teams who are going to get through. We saw Thailand make it to the T20 World Cup in 2020, so they have shown that they are able to get to the world stage, Scotland got to the T20 World Cup in 2024 so they can do it as well. No team will be taken lightly."

The quality of cricket in the women's game has improved significantly, with New Zealand and South Africa competing in the last ICC Women's T20 World Cup Final, while Nigeria and the USA delivered outstanding performances at the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup earlier this year.

According to Pradhan, these improved performances at all levels stem from a greater emphasis on expanding opportunities for teams through the ICC Women's Championship.

"The ICC Women's Championship expanding to 10 teams and the awarding of ODI status to five Associate Member teams at the start of this ODI cycle has created a large pool of teams who are in the race for an eight-team Women's Cricket World Cup."

Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir praised the ICC for its efforts in enhancing the game.

"One of the great things about the ICC Women's Championship, which I benefited from hugely in my career, is that it has been expanded to 10 teams," she said.

"It is a very exciting time in women's 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.

"In the last World Cup, a lot of matches went down to the last couple of overs and that's what you want to see as an audience. Women's cricket is providing that."

The sentiment was echoed by Bismah Maroof, who succeeded Sana Mir as Pakistan captain.

"The 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," she said.