With none of the Indian players featuring in the World XI side for the ongoing three-match T20I series in Pakistan, former International Cricket Council (ICC) president and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) functionary Ehsan Mani has expressed his disappointment.
The series between the two sides is a big step towards the resumption of international cricket in Pakistan where except Zimbabwe in 2015 no international team had toured since 2009 when militants attacked Sri Lanka’s team bus. And while players from as many as seven countries are playing for World XI, no Indian player is in the squad.
“I’m a little disappointed that there are no players from India. It would have been very nice. I know India is involved in the series against Australia, but it would have been nice to get the Indian players as well. Because you know, at the end of the day the game of cricket binds all of us together. There’s nothing like cricket to bring people together and help build relations between people and countries,” Mani told The Indian Express.
While national duty is certainly a big reason for the Indian players’ absence, the bitter relationship between India and Pakistan is also a big reason. Both the countries had not played a full bilateral Test series since 2007 when Pakistan visited India for three Tests and five One-Day Internationals. They played a short series of three ODIs and two T20s in India in December 2012, but otherwise, both have faced each other only in the ICC organised events or the Asia Cup.
And perhaps that is the reason that even players who are not in the national team right now are overlooked in the World XI side.
“I understand that there’s a series going on in India, so the Indian cricketers can’t participate. But some recently-retired Indian cricketers could have played in this series, and there are (also) some Indian players who won’t be featuring in the shorter formats; the series between India and Australia. So there was ample room for some of them to participate (here),” said the former ICC chief.
Mani further said that the series against World XI is a ‘very small but very, very important step’ towards the resumption of international cricket in Pakistan.
“This is a very small, but very, very important step in getting international cricket back to Pakistan. While there had been one or two teams like Zimbabwe and Kenya that toured Pakistan before, this is the first time (since the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team) a mix of high-profile international players is coming to Pakistan. So it’s obviously very important,” he said.