NEW DELHI: India have been docked six women’s championship match points after failing to play against Pakistan amid simmering tension between the South Asian rivals, the world cricket body said on Wednesday.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded Pakistan, who were supposed to host the games, two points for each of the three matches that were scheduled to be held between Aug 1 and Oct 31 this year.

The ICC technical committee said it had considered written submissions from both the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its counterpart Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) before making the call.

“The technical committee was sensitive to the current state of relations between the nations of India and Pakistan, but concluded that the BCCI had not been able to establish acceptable reasons for not participating in this series,” the ICC said in a statement.

The decision means the Indian eves, who stay fifth in the points table, will miss out on automatic qualification for the 2017 World Cup in England.

Bilateral ties between the men’s cricket teams have been suspended since 2012 when Pakistan last toured India, but they have met each other in international tournaments including the World Cup, World T20, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup.

The PCB, while lauding the ICC decision, said it had made comprehensive submissions to the game’s governing body setting out its attempts in playing host to the Indian women tour but its efforts remained unsuccessful.

The PCB thereafter involved ICC in this matter and finally requested the matter be referred to Technical Committee for decision of award of points.

PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said in Lahore: “The Board accepts the decision of the ICC’s Technical Committee which has vindicated the PCB’s stance on Pakistan-India cricket series. It is unfortunate that despite our sincere efforts we have not been able to play with India in the ICC Women’s Championship. The ultimate loss of Pakistan-India series is to cricket.”

Published in Dawn November 24th, 2016