PCB announcement on why no Pak cricketer will play Asia XI

BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) is set to celebrate the birth of ‘Bongobondhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman y hosting T20 matches in March between Asia XI and World XI. Bongobondhu was the founder of Bangladesh. ICC has given official status to the game but it is still unclear if it is going to India or Pakistan who will be participating in Asia XI given the current situation.

Following this rumour, Jayesh George, Secretary of BCCCI has said that there will be no such dilemma because there is news that Pakistan will not be participating altogether. He said that there will be no scene of the two teams coming together or one being picked over the other. It is because the Pakistan players are not invited and Sourav Ganguly will be selecting five cricketers to send for Asia XI.

The truth, in fact, is that the dates of Asia XI are clashing with Pakistan Super League Schedule. The series is to be held in March and will end by 22^nd March whereas the Asia XI match will take place between March 16^th-20^th, the dates when Pakistan has to participate.

Ehsan Mani told Sportstar that they had discussed the dates with BCB and asked if there is a possibility of a change of dates for Pakistan. The dates could not be changed due to understandable reasons. The dates for PSL could also not be changed. It leaves with only one option for Pakistan to not participate in the Asia XI.

The statement by Jayesh was a bad decision and the situation was made worse when Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ehsan Mani said that security situation is worse in India compared to Pakistan and that teams should be happy to play a match in Pakistan. The statement was made to take a dig at Indian Government.

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Ehsan further said that successful Sri Lanka test series is an example that the security arrangements in Pakistan can be trusted. He also said that fans and media have been a big help ion portraying Pakistan in a positive light.