The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to forward the names Team India skipper Virat Kohli alongside three other cricketers for the Asia XI T20Is. Bangladesh will host two T20Is to celebrate the 100th birthday of their Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The matches will take place on March 18 and 21 and will have international status.
Meanwhile, it was likely that BCCI will send second-string cricketers for the two-match series. However, it turned out to be untrue as the apex body has sent some big names for Asia XI games against World XI. As per reports in IANS, along with Virat Kohli, President Sourav Ganguly has forwarded the names of Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan, and Kuldeep Yadav for the high-profile matches.
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Furthermore, the report added that BCCI has also checked the availability of the players before sending their names to the Bangladesh Cricket Board. It is interesting to note that all the players will be available for the games despite India having an ODI series against South Africa which ends on March 18.
“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.
Speculations rose about the participation of Indian players along with the Pakistan cricketers. However, the picture got cleared after BCB President Nazmul Hasan confirmed that no players for Pakistan will take part in the two-match series. Later on, Pakistan Cricket Board had clarified that it wasn’t about the BCB picking BCCI over PCB and it was a case of the Pakistan players being unavailable as they would be busy playing in the ongoing Pakistan Super League.
