BCCI names four Indians who will represent Asia XI

Sourav Ganguly, the president of The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sent the names of Indian skipper Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) as the latter gets ready to host two T20Is between Asia XI and World XI to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on March 18 and 21, just days before the start of the IPL.

Four Indians to play for Asia XI

What a fantastic news.

Kohli, Shami, Dhawan, Kuldeep will be playing for Asia Eleven against World Eleven on March 18th and 21st. #AsiaX1vWorldX1

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 21, 2020

“Ganguly sent in the names to the BCB after we checked on the availability of the players. Kohli, Shami, Dhawan and Kuldeep will represent us in the Asia XI team. It has been a while since we sent the names because the Bangladesh board needed the list from the BCCI to be able to prepare the Asian squad,” the source said.

Young brigade to take on South Africa

India will be playing South Africa between March 12 and 18.  These four elite Indian players will miss the series if they are to play for Asia XI. As per reports India’s limited overs vice captain Rohit Sharma has also asked for rest for the series against South Africa. So India will be playing with a young squad against South Africa in the ODI series. 

No Pakistan players 

LOL!!!

No 1 T20 Team players are not to be part of Asia XI in Bangladesh T20s.
That's not expected from Ganguly. #AsiaX1vWorldX1

— Pakistan Cricket ?? (@PakistanCric10) December 26, 2019

There were some confusion regarding the lineup of Asia XI as Pakistan players who form an integral part of cricket in the subcontinent will be busy with PSL during that time. The cricketing ties between India and Pakistan was also a headache for BCB.

But BCCI joint secretary Jayesh George had clarified that there would be no Pakistan players invited for the match.

“What we are aware of is that there will be no Pakistan players in the Asia XI. That is what the message is, so, there is no question of both countries coming together or picking one over the other,” he had said.

PSL the reason for the absence of Pakistan players

But the Pakistan Cricket Board had clarified that it wasn’t about the BCB favouring BCCI over PCB and it was because the Pakistan players will be unavailable as they would be busy playing in the Pakistan Super League.

“The T20Is between World XI and Asia XI are scheduled on March 18 and 21, while the PSL 2020 is likely to end on March 22. Since dates of both the series couldn’t be changed, we offered our regrets to the BCB, both verbally and in writing, which they understood and accepted,” a PCB spokesperson said.

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