Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi will now be leading the ICC World XI squad which is scheduled to lock horns with Windies team in a fund-raising T20 charity match at the Lord’s cricket ground on May 31. The English limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan, who was supposed to the lead the squad, will be missing out the game due to a fractured finger. Due to the injury, Morgan will be out of action for seven to 10 days.
However, Morgan is expected to be fit to play in England’s ODI match against Scotland at Edinburgh on June 10. The Scotland clash is followed by five ODIs against Australia later in June.
Andy Flower, the England and Wales Cricket Board’s stand-in director, said on the ICC’s official website: “It is not a bad crack but it is bad enough to keep him out of tomorrow’s Middlesex game and the World XI game. It is not a huge concern, it is one we can hopefully manage past in about a week.”
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Morgan’s compatriot Sam Billings will take his place in the squad. Surrey all-rounder Sam Curran and England fast bowler Tymal Mills were also added to the World XI squad. The squad also includes one player each from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and two players each from New Zealand and Pakistan.
“It’s a great honor to be leading the ICC World XI side, that too for such a good cause. I’m sure all the players from either side are looking forward to the match with great enthusiasm and people will get to see some high-quality cricket on Thursday,” Afridi wrote on his twitter handle.
“It’s a great honour to be leading the ICC World XI side, that too for such a good cause. I’m sure all the players from either side are looking forward to the match with great enthusiasm and people will get to see some high-quality cricket on Thursday.”
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) May 29, 2018
The Windies, the defending ICC World Twenty20 champions, will be led by the young all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite. Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree and Andre Russell are among the other veterans in the squad.
All the earnings from the game will be used to redevelop the stadia in the Caribbean, which were damaged due to hurricanes last year.
The venues that will benefit include the Ronald Webster Park in Anguilla, the Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua, Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica, the A.O. Shirley Recreation Ground in the British Virgin Islands and the Carib Lumber Ball Park in St. Maarten.
ICC World XI squad: Shahid Afridi (C), Dinesh Karthik, Mitchell McClenaghan, Thisara Perera, Rashid Khan, Luke Ronchi, Shoaib Malik, Tamim Iqbal, Sandeep Lamichhane, Adil Rashid, Mohammed Shami, Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Tymal Mills.
