New Delhi: India qualified for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final Thursday after rain washed out their semi-final against England in Sydney, because the Women in Blue had finished top of their qualifying pool.
This is the first time the Indian women’s team has made it to the T20 World Cup final, and its growing fan-base was pleased to see it reach this grand stage — the Harmanpreet Kaur-led squad will face hosts Australia in the final at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground Sunday, International Women’s Day.
However, the more ardent lovers of the game have criticised the game’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), for not having a reserve day for the semi-finals, both of which were scheduled to be played at the same venue on the same day. Australia and South Africa eventually got on the ground for a truncated second semi-final that the hosts won.
Former England men’s captain Michael Vaughan called the India-England abandonment a “shambles”, while sports commentator Geoff Lemon questioned how none of the national cricket boards who had signed on to such a condition bothered to consider the worst-case scenario.
It’s been raining in Sydney all day so far. Solid, steady rain, the sort that drenches the ground and makes tyres hiss in the street. We might sneak on late this evening but the afternoon match is gone. #T20WorldCup
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) March 5, 2020
In its defence, the ICC said T20 competitions are meant to be short and sharp, and reserve days are “incredibly expensive and a logistical nightmare”.
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England ‘gutted’, India also ‘disappointed’
Speaking after the match had been officially abandoned, England captain Heather Knight said the team was absolutely “gutted”.
“There’s not a lot we can do about it. It’s going to be a bitter pill to swallow for a few of us now. Obviously, the weather has cost us. We’re just gutted that we didn’t have a chance to fight for a place in that final,” Knight said.
Even Indian captain Kaur said she was “disappointed” with how things panned out, though she added that they had thought about this scenario from the very beginning. “From day one, we knew we had to win all the games,” she said.
Knight ended her comments by expressing hope that the rule would change in the future.
“You’d hope now there is going to be a rule change, and moving forward no other team will have to experience going out of a World Cup purely because of rain. Hopefully it changes,” she said.
Australian journalist Scott Bailey tweeted: “Biggest stand-alone women’s event in history on Australian soil and a finalist is decided because of a few hour’s (sic) rain. No back-up option provided in the playing conditions despite any number of options available to world cricket.”
Biggest stand-alone women’s event in history on Australian soil and a finalist is decided because of a few hour’s rain. No back-up option provided in the playing conditions despite any number of options available to world cricket. #T20WorldCup
— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) March 5, 2020
In case both the semi-finals had been washed out, South Africa, who topped their pool, would’ve made the final with India. But even South African captain Dane van Niekerk had said: “It works in our favour, 100 per cent, but if I was on the other end, I’d probably be really upset. Everybody works really hard to get here, so to lose out with weather is not ideal. It shouldn’t be like that, so I think for semi-finals and finals, there should be reserve days.”
More fundamental questions
Some analysts also pointed fingers at all the national cricket boards who had signed on the rules at the start of the tournament without thinking about their teams who might lose out in case of abandonment.
“This isn’t some random ICC edict. The competing boards all had to agree to the playing conditions. None of them apparently spotted a problem… The question then becomes, is anyone actually reading these playing conditions before approving them?” commentator Lemon tweeted.
It’s been raining in Sydney all day so far. Solid, steady rain, the sort that drenches the ground and makes tyres hiss in the street. We might sneak on late this evening but the afternoon match is gone. #T20WorldCup
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) March 5, 2020
“All the planning, all the promotion, all the money spent, and yet a tournament can still have a hole kicked in it by people failing to do the most basic homework.”
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