Sana Mir Highlights Importance of ICC Women’s WC Qualifier for Bangladesh and Ireland

Dubai, April 1 (NationPress) Former Pakistan captain Sana Mir believes that the forthcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 Qualifier in Pakistan will greatly benefit teams such as Bangladesh, Ireland, and West Indies. She commended the ICC's efforts to enhance the sport.

The qualifier tournament, scheduled to occur in Pakistan from April 9, will feature six teams and finalize the remaining participants for the eight-team tournament later this year in India.

Pakistan will host ICC Full Members including Bangladesh, Ireland, and West Indies, along with Associate Members Thailand and Scotland during the Qualifier.

“One significant aspect of the ICC Women's Championship that immensely benefited my career is its expansion to 10 teams. This expansion is vital, particularly for nations like Bangladesh and Ireland, which now have a place in it,” Sana stated, as quoted by the ICC.

“This is a thrilling period for women’s cricket, and if we continue on this path, we will see more than four or five teams that fans will be eager to watch compete against one another.

“In the last World Cup, many matches were decided in the final overs, and that’s what audiences desire to witness. Women’s cricket is delivering that,” she added.

The anticipation is rising at all levels, and the hope is that fans will experience plenty of excitement in Pakistan over the upcoming weeks.

Bismah Maroof, who took over as Pakistan captain after Sana, remarked, “Women’s cricket has seen tremendous growth in recent years and continues to advance. The associate countries, including Scotland and Thailand, have made remarkable progress, and as a full member country, Ireland has also shown considerable development.

Snehal Pradhan, ICC Manager - Women’s Cricket and former Indian international cricketer, is eager for the event in Pakistan where six teams will compete for two positions at the Women’s Cricket World Cup in India later this year.

Pradhan believes that with the overall standards rising, predicting which teams will qualify is incredibly challenging.

“This is high-stakes cricket with significant implications. The last Cricket World Cup held in New Zealand was extremely successful, showcasing the high-profile nature of the event that two of the six teams are battling for,” she explained.

“With meaningful contexts, substantial outcomes at stake, and great opportunities on the line, this tournament is remarkable, and everyone is thrilled about it. We have four full members and two associate members, creating an exceptionally competitive field of six teams.

“It is genuinely challenging to identify which two teams will advance. We witnessed Thailand reach the T20 World Cup in 2020, demonstrating their capacity to compete on the world stage, while Scotland reached the T20 World Cup in 2024. No team will be underestimated.”

The growth of the game is evident, with New Zealand and South Africa competing in the last ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final, and Nigeria and the USA delivering impressive performances at the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup earlier this year.

According to Pradhan, these enhanced performances at all levels stem from a commitment to increase opportunities for teams through the ICC Women’s Championship, which provides context for bilateral ODI matches between World Cup events.

She elaborated: “Several decisions made in recent years have positioned us where we are today. The expansion of the ICC Women’s Championship to 10 teams and the granting of ODI status to five Associate Member teams at the beginning of this ODI cycle have created a large pool of teams vying for an eight-team Women’s Cricket World Cup.

“We had a pool of 16 teams eligible for an eight-team event. The increase in matches within the calendar, due to the structure of the ICC Women’s Championship, has led to improved cricket standards.

“This is incredibly promising, as we see the benefits of these decisions and investments, with the ICC announcing its first-ever commercial partner for dedicated women’s cricket events, Unilever, who will commence their partnership at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.

The outcome of this growth indicates a shift towards expansion at both the T20 and ODI levels, with the next World Cup featuring 10 teams.

“If we reach the final matches and it comes down to the wire to see who advances, that will be the greatest indicator of success,” Pradhan concluded.