5 Indian legends who represented the Asian XI in the past

13 years have passed since the Asia XI (consisting of the top players in Asia) contested against the African XI for the Afro-Asian Cup. After that series, there has not been any recognized fixture involving the Asia XI. However, after a long gap, an international series between Asia XI and World XI in Bangladesh was scheduled from March 18-21, but has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Revised dates will be confirmed by Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) later.

8 players from India have been selected to represent Asia and most of them have made notable contributions. In the first Afro-Asian Cup, Zaheer Khan contributed heavily with the ball by picking up 9 wickets in three ODIs while MS Dhoni and Sehwag were the star performers for India in the second edition of the cup. The notable name missing from the list of Indian players to have played for Asia XI is Sachin Tendulkar, who could not take part in both the tournaments because of injury issues. This article consists of 5 Indian stalwarts who represented the Asia XI.

#5 Zaheer Khan

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The most successful left-arm pacer in the history of Indian cricket is also the highest wicket-taker for Asia XI with 13 wickets in 6 innings at an economy rate of 4.23. In the first match of the 2005 Afro-Asia Cup, he played an instrumental role in dismissing the African XI for 198. He picked up the crucial wicket of Jacques Kallis and ended up with figures of 3 for 37 in 8 overs. In the second game, he dismissed Mark Boucher early and went through the defences of Shaun Pollock, again picking 3 wickets.

He finished the series as the highest wicket-taker with 9 wickets in 3 games. In the second edition of the Afro-Asia Cup, he picked up 2 wickets in 3 games. He dismissed Boeta Dippenaar and Loots Bosman in the first game and bowled only 3 overs in the second game.

#Note: All statistics as of March 12, 2020