The Indian women's team will have to finish among the top 6 sides in the ICC T20I rankings as on April 1, 2021 in order to directly qualify for the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham along with hosts England, confirmed Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday (November 18).
The quadrennial event, due to be held from July 28 to August 8, will include a Women's T20 competition. This will be the first time ever that women's cricket is part of the Commonwealth Games.
Besides England and other 6 nations, one more team will qualify for the tournament, which will be decided via a Qualifier, "the format and details of which will be announced in due course", said the ICC. However, a deadline for the Qualifier has been set to January 31, 2022.
"Cricket at the Commonwealth Games is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue to grow the women’s game globally," ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said.
"We are committed to accelerating this growth and maintaining the momentum we have created over the past few years, which most recently saw 86,174 fans packed into the MCG for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020."
"I thank the Commonwealth Games Federation for their support and for making this possible. We share with them the vision of greater equality, fairness and opportunity in sport and I am sure Birmingham 2022 will go a long way towards us achieving our common objectives."
An extra qualifying event will be held in case West Indies make it through to the games. "Since athletes from the Caribbean will be representing their countries and not the West Indies (as they are affiliated with the ICC), the winner of a designated qualifying tournament will decide which country gets to compete if the West Indies get a slot," states the ICC media release.
Dame Louise Martin, the CGF president, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have women’s T20 cricket debut at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games."
"Cricket has always been one of the Commonwealth’s most popular sports and it is so special to have it back at our Games for the first time since the men’s competition at Kuala Lumpur 1998."
"Now is the turn of the women and I can’t wait to see the next generation of stars like Heather Knight, Harmanpreet Kaur and Meg Lanning take centre stage."
"Birmingham 2022 will be a fantastic showcase for the women’s game and the unveiling of the qualification criteria today is an exciting and important milestone as we head towards what will be a spectacular competition at the iconic Edgbaston Stadium."
India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur was also excited with the opportunity of becoming a CWG gold medalist. The competition in itself will only further raise the profile of the women's game.
"The inclusion of cricket at the Commonwealth Games is huge for all players and the game in general," Kaur said.
"I hope to be there at the games and wish that it is a great success with some engrossing matches and high quality of cricket."
