By Muhammad Luqman
Pakistan will face a star-studded World XI team for the first of three T20 matches at the Gaddafi Stadium in eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday night. This history-making event will mark the return of high-profile international cricket to the South Asian country after break of eight years.
The World XI, led by South African skipper Faf du Plessis, reached Lahore on Monday morning amid tight security, with West Indian spinner Samuel Badree joining the team early Tuesday and completing the stellar line-up of 14 players from seven Test-playing countries.
India has not any representation in the World XI.
The other notable players of the World XI are South Africa great Hashim Amla, West Indies’ twice-T20 World Cup winning captain Darren Sammy, Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal, former England captain Paul Collingwood, New Zealand’s Grant Elliott and George Bailey from Australia.
The historic series will be closely monitored by other cricket boards and Pakistan expects it will pave the way for the country to host Sri Lanka and West Indies later this year.
In March, calls for the return of international cricket picked up steam after the final of the domestic T20 Pakistan Super League, featuring high-profile foreign players such as World Cup winner Darren Sammy, was held in Lahore.
Over 6,000 police officials and paramilitary officers have been deployed around the stadium, according to provincial government spokesman Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan.
“A foolproof security plan has been devised for the protection of the teams and spectators,” he said.
