Best Asia XI that can face off against World XI

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will be commemorating the 100th-anniversary Sheikh Mujibur Rahman- the founder of the country and in order to do so will host two T20I matches between Asia XI vs World XI in the capital city of Dhaka. The board also released the schedule of the series which will be played in March of 2020.

The two matches will be hosted by the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on March 18 and 21. It was also earlier decided that the third game of the series will be played at the newly built Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, as part of its inauguration, but that plan was scrapped as the stadium couldn’t get ready in time.

With four major Asian cricketing boards agreeing to release players for the two-match T20I series, we take a look at which of the cricketers may take part in the matches.

Here’s the possible Asia XI which may face off against the World XI in Dhaka in March:

1. Hazratullah Zazai (Afghanistan)

The 21-year-old Afghanistan opener Hazratullah Zazai has been a star for their team when it comes to the T20 format. Zazai has played 13 T20Is for the team and has made 519 runs with 2 fifties and one century to his name.

The prolific opener has the highest score of 162* came against Ireland in 2019, which led the Afghanistan team to a world record total of 278 runs in the match. He has experience of playing in Bangladesh as well, playing for Rangpur Riders and Dhaka Dynamites in the Bangladesh Premier T20 league and in all T20s, he has 1425 runs in 47 matches at a strike rate of 151.59, astonishing for an opener and average of 31.66.

A quick start is definitely on the cards if Zazai gets going and a big total on the board, if the left-hander takes a liking to the opposition bowlers. Hence, he can emerge as a vital top-order batsman for Asia XI.