International Fixtures Unlikely To Allow Top India Players To Play Asia XI vs World XI Games In Bangladesh

Cricket fans across the world must be desperately waiting for next year’s series between Asia XI and World XI. These kind of games have always attracted the fans from world wide. Who can forget the ICC Super Series in 2005 which was played between Australia, the world’s ranked number one side at the time, and an ICC World XI made up of the best non-Australian cricketers. The series was a huge hit as it attracted fans from all around.

Well, a similar series will be played next year with Bangladesh hosting two such games and India hosting one. Bangladesh are hosting the games to mark the birth centenary of their first Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The two matches are scheduled on March 18 and 21, and have already been accorded the status of international matches by the ICC.

India, on the other hand, will host one game between Asia XI and World XI to mark the opening of the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. The stadium will be the largest cricket stadium in the world once it re-opens in March next year. Currently, the Melbourne Cricket Ground is the biggest cricket ground in the world.

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Top India players unlikely to tour Bangladesh:

The Asia XI will feature players from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has already asked the BCCI to allow seven of the top Indian players to visit Bangladesh for the Asia XI vs World XI series. The players are MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja.

“Yes, Bangladesh is scheduled to host two T20 Internationals between Asia XI and Rest of the World. We are in touch with BCCI and other cricket boards of the Asian region to allow their players to be part of these two games,” BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said last month.

However, the top India players are unlikely to visit Bangladesh because of their commitment with the national team. India will be playing an ODI series against South Africa when the Asia XI vs World XI series starts in Bangladesh. The three-match ODI series ends on March 18, the same day the series in Bangladesh starts.

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The regular India players are more than likely to skip the game in Bangladesh. MS Dhoni, who is not a  part of the team right now, could be on his way to Bangladesh. However, if he is recalled to the team early next year, he too can miss the game between Asia XI vs World XI. The second match will be played on March 21 and it would be interesting to see whether the players travel to Bangladesh for just one T20.