The World XI team scheduled to play a three-match T20 series in Lahore in September will likely be led by South Africa captain Faf du Plessis or star batsman Hashim Amla, a private news channel reported on Tuesday.
Quoting a senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the channel reported that both top cricketers have consented to touring Pakistan with the ICC World XI and one of them will be the captain of the side. It said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) and PCB are currently processing financial and insurance matters for World XI players. The team will be announced as soon as the players sign their contracts, said the report.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi had said that 15 players from seven countries had agreed to visit Pakistan as part of the World XI squad.
“Players from England, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe have agreed to play the World XI tournament in Pakistan. India, however, has declined to send players,” he said.
Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower, who will coach the World XI, has been assigned to select the squad for the tour, which is financially supported by the ICC.
On June 24, the ICC board had agreed to support a three-game Twenty20 series between Pakistan and a World XI side to help revive international cricket in the country.
With the exception of a Zimbabwe tour two years ago, Pakistan has had to play all home matches outside of the country after a 2009 terrorist attack in Lahore on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan team wiped out the possibility of international level matches to be held in the country.
