Did you know that nations first have to compete in another tournament to be able to compete in a World Cup? No, they aren’t just picked randomly. The upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup is going to commence next year on the 4th of March and end on the 3rd of April in New Zealand between 8 teams out of which 5 are India, Australia, England, South Africa, and New Zealand. The other 3 will be verified shortly following the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier scheduled to begin on the 21st of November and end on the 5th of December, in Zimbabwe.
The USA women have displayed imposing performances in recent times, for instance, in the Sistar Mortgage Women’s National Championship in Florida, they won 5 out of their 6 contests, in style. This league was played by a young USA squad who have now advanced to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier scheduled to be played next year.
Coming back to the ODI edition, this qualifier will be their first-ever international appearance since the 2011 Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh which they weren’t able to surpass. While this may be nerve-wracking for the girls, their recent performances should give them the essential assurance to be able to express themselves freely and look to perform better than their counterparts and more significantly, than their previous selves.
As the Chair of the Women’s National Selection Panel of the USA, Ritesh Kaidu, acknowledged, “It is a hugely significant couple of months for American women’s cricket with two critical tournaments coming up so close together after an absence of any competitive action over the past two years. The Selection Panel was pleased with the performance of the squad in Mexico in winning the title, with many of the new young players performing admirably. We have looked to select the most balanced squad possible for the expected conditions in Zimbabwe, and we are confident all 15 players will represent the United States well in what will be a very challenging tournament against several ICC Full Members.”
The 15 contestants who have secured their spot for competing in the qualifier are:
Sindhu Srihasha (captain)
Shebani Bhaskar (vice-captain)
Akshatha Rao
Anika Kolan
Chetnaa Prasad
Gargi Bhogle
Geetika Kodali
Isani Vaghela
Lisa Ramjit
Mahika Kandanala
Moksha Chaudhary
Sara Farooq
Suhani Thadani
Tara Norris
Uzma Iftikar
While this list does not include any name that has previously made a mark in international cricket, we believe and hope that that will no longer be the case in a few months.
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