Pakistan women's skipper Bismah Maroof has expressed her disappointment on the International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision to split points between India and Pakistan for a bilateral series that India failed to obtain government permission to play.
The ICC decision means Pakistan miss out on automatic qualification for the 2021 Women's World Cup, while India go through.
"The decision was very disappointing, because we had been waiting [for] a long time to play against India and the board was working towards it," Maroof said in a video press conference.
"But we weren't getting any response from India. It's good luck for India, who got points without agreeing to play any matches. I suppose if we look at it in a positive light, we'll get a few extra competitive matches having to play the qualifying rounds," she added.
The series between India and Pakistan could not be played because of a 'Force Majeure' event after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) demonstrated that it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan that forms part of the ICC Women's Championship.
New Zealand, the hosts of the World Cup 2021, and four highest-placed teams on the ICC Women's Championship points table has qualified for the premier tournament.
Australia topped the table with 37 points followed by England (29), South Africa (25) and India (23). Pakistan (19), New Zealand (17), West Indies (13) and Sri Lanka (5) completed the table.
The 28-year-old added that the PCB's legal team is already reviewing ICC's call and may refer the matter to ICC's dispute resolution committee if it deems necessary to do so.
"The PCB's legal team is reviewing the decision as things stand. If they think there are grounds for a legal case, we should definitely proceed with one. It was very disappointing, and politics and sport should be kept separate," she said.
( With inputs from ANI )
