No Pakistan Player To Be Part Of Asia XI In Bangla T20s, Says BCCI

Such a scenario where both India and Pakistan players play in the Asia XI wouldn’t arise because the message is that there will be no Pakistan players invited

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is gearing up to celebrate the birth centenary of ‘Bongobondhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh. The board is looking forward to hosting two T20 matches in March between the Asia XI and the World XI. While the ICC is said to have given the games official status, looking at the current situation between India and Pakistan, one would think that it will come to either India or Pakistan players when it comes to filling the XI names in the Asia XI team sheet. According to an IANS report, BCCI Joint Secretary Jayesh George has made it clear that such a scenario where both India and Pakistan players play in the Asia XI wouldn’t arise because the message is that there will be no Pakistan players invited. “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. Sourav Ganguly will decide the five players who will be a part of the Asia XI,” he said. Things have gone from bad to worse in recent times with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ehsan Mani looking to take a dig at the Indian government and saying that the security situation in India is worse than in Pakistan and teams should ideally be happy to play in Pakistan. In fact, former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif took the battle further when he dismissed BCCI President Sourav Ganguly’s idea of a 4-nation series, calling it a “flop” plan. Clearly these things will be kept in mind when Ganguly does sit with his team to decide on the plan of sending players for the BCB organised matches.