Pakistan players will not be available for the Asia XI vs World XI match because of the Pakistan Super League, which will be on at the time, the PCB has said. (File Photo)
PCB has denied claims that Pakistan players were not invited to be part of the Asia XI team, which will take on a World XI team in a series of T20 matches next year. A BCCI official had said on Thursday that five Indians would be part of the Asia XI team.
Speaking on Friday, a day after it was made clear that India and Pakistan players would not be playing together in the matches, a PCB official said Pakistan players had been invited but that they would not be available at the time because of the Pakistan Super League.
“There is some confusion regarding the Asian eleven and World eleven matches. Our players were invited but since these matches are clashing with the Pakistan Premier League it is not possible for us to make our players available,” a spokesperson of the board said.
He dismissed reports that Pakistani players were not part of the Asian XI as they didn’t want to play alongside Indian players or that the Indian board was behind their sidelining from the Asian and World XI matches.
“The fact is that back in June we were invited by the Asian Cricket Council to nominate players for the Asian eleven and we accordingly requested the ACC and Bangladesh board to slightly adjust the dates of these matches so that our players can also participate in them,” he said.
“We had requested a shift in dates since dates were clashing with the latter part of the PSL to be held in Pakistan this time.”
The official said that the ACC and BCB had informed them that shifting the dates was not possible due to broadcasting commitments and the international calendar.
“That is why our players are not taking part in these matches,” he added.
He said it was unfortunate that different twists were being given to the issue.
The two matches between Asia XI and World XI are scheduled to be held on March 18 and 21.
The PSL is scheduled for February-March next year.
However, a problematic factor that has not been addressed yet is that India are also scheduled to play a T20 series vs South Africa at the time, with a match having been scheduled for March 18.
(With PTI inputs)
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