West Indies vs ICC World XI: 5 reasons why such matches should happen more often
The West Indian cricket team is all set to take on the ICC World XI for a fund-raising T20 game at the Lords Cricket Ground in England on Thursday (May 31).
Many international stars like Shahid Afridi, Rashid Khan, Dinesh Karthik, and Mohammad Shami will contest against the current World T20 Champions on the day.
While the West Indian team will be lead by Carlos Braithwaite, Shahid Afridi will take the leadership baton of the World XI from Eoin Morgan, who cannot participate in the match due to a sudden injury.
Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Samuel Badri, and Evin Lewis have all been included in the squad of the World T20 Champions. On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik, Rashid Khan, Mohamed Shami, Luke Ronchi, and Tamim Iqbal will play alongside Afridi in the World XI.
The last World XI game organized by ICC was back in September 2017, with a three-match T20 series that was conducted to initiate international cricket in Pakistan once again. The series was won by the home side by a 2-1 margin.
The finances raised on the day will be going in rebuilding the stadiums that were damaged due to the hurricanes in the Carribean islands last year.
Here is why World XI games should take place more often in international cricket:
#5 International rivals playing together
When ICC organizes World XI matches, it brings together cricketers from different countries in a single team. While this concept is at the crux of domestic T20 leagues like IPL and CPL, it finds form in international cricket on very rare occasions.
Moreover, certain things that do not take place in these leagues happen in World XI matches. For instance, India and Pakistan internationals can play together for this team and thus, tick a box they would not have been able to otherwise.
Additionally, the performances that these players put up in these games are added to their international tallies, naturally becoming more valuable than their statistics in domestic leagues.