ICC World XI to face Windies in charity match at Lords today

When the ICC World XI takes the ground today against the West Indies at Lord’s, they would be looking to not only provide entertainment to the fans but also play a game for a good cause.

The match is being staged to raise funds to rebuild and restore five major cricket venues in the Caribbean that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria last year.

Bangladesh’ star batsman Tamim Iqbal will play in the ICC World XI against the West.

Besides, the World XI squad includes one player each from Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and two players each from New Zealand and Pakistan.

The Windies, the reigning ICC World Twenty20 champions, will be led by Carlos Brathwaite.

Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree and Andre Russell are among the other leading players in the squad.

Playing for a cause

This will not be the first instance the cricketing community is coming together to help those in need. In 1986, a campaign titled the ‘Race against Time’ took place to help with famine relief in Africa. Part of the campaign was a cricket match that was played at Edgbaston and featured the likes of Imran Khan and Ian Botham in the World XI.

In 2005, the Melbourne Cricket Ground hosted the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal in match between the World XI, led by former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, and Asia XI which was captained by India’s Sourav Ganguly. The match contributed over AUS$14 million to support the humanitarian relief efforts following the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004.

Fast forward to 2015, when Help for Heroes XI took on the Rest of the World XI in a T20 match at The Oval to help a UK charity raise nearly $650,000 for veterans, military personnel and their families.

Squads

ICC World XI: Shahid Afridi (captain), Sam Billings (wicketkeeper), Sam Curran, Tamim Iqbal, Tymal Mills, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Rashid Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mitchell McClenaghan, Shoaib Malik, Thisara Perera, Luke Ronchi (wicketkeeper), Adil Rashid

West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Samuel Badree, Rayad Emrit, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin (wicketkeeper), Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Kesrick Williams

The match will begin at 9pm Bangladesh Standard Time.

(With inputs from GEO News)