No Pakistani should be included in Asia XI: BCCI
What's the story
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will be celebrating the birth centenary of 'Bongobondhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh, by hosting two T20 matches in March. The matches will be between the Asia XI and the World XI. The ICC is said to have given the games official status. Meanwhile the BCCI has made its stance clear on Pakistani players featuring.
BCCI's views
No Pakistan players will be invited, says BCCI
Speaking to IANS, BCCI Joint Secretary Jayesh George has made it clear that there won't be a scenario of both India and Pakistan players featuring in an Asia XI side. This prospect wouldn't arise because the message is that there will be no Pakistan players invited. He added that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly will decide on the five Indian players to represent the team.
Comment
'There will be no Pakistan players in the Asia XI'
"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.
Information
Asia XI vs World XI schedule of the two T20Is
The two matches between Asia XI and World XI will be held at the Shere Bangla National Stadium at Dhaka on March 18 and 21 respectively. Both these matches are set to start at 6:00 PM IST.
Security
PCB had recently taken a dig over India's security
Recently, Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ehsan Mani took a dig at the Indian government by saying that the security situation in India is worse than Pakistan. He also said that teams should ideally be happy to play in Pakistan. "No one should now doubt security arrangements in Pakistan after successful Sri Lanka Test series. This is a turning point for revival of Test cricket."
Our take
The decision by BCCI is questionable
The situation between India and Pakistan is at its low and things may never get back to normalcy in terms of the political scenario. Over time, we have seen sports suffering because of the same. This is uncalled for as any form of sport unites players of two nations. The special T20 series in Bangladesh not having Pakistan players is a poor decision.