Shahid Afridi pulls himself out of the charity game at Lord's

The World XI is scheduled to play a charity match with the Windies at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on May 31. Shahid Afridi was selected in the World XI team and was set to make a brief comeback to international cricket. However, the veteran has ruled himself out of the historic game owing to an injured knee.

As per the reports in Cricbuzz, the former Pakistani cricketer mentioned that he hasn’t quite recovered from the same and will need three to four more weeks to recover. He also missed a few matches for the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for the same reason. The 38-year old veteran also went through an MRI scan back in March.

An epic match in store

Bangladesh all-round cricketer Shakib Al Hasan also pulled out of the match citing personal reasons. He was replaced by Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane. The World XI will be led by Eoin Morgan, the English left-handed batsman. Following Afridi’s exclusion, Shoaib Malik remains to be the only Pakistani cricketer in the team, provided the management doesn’t rope in another player from the nation.

The World XI is now in with the challenge of finding an appropriate replacement of the all-rounder. Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik are the cricketers from India. Therefore, it will be one of the rare occasions when Indian and Pakistani cricketers will feature in a playing eleven.

The likes of Rashid Khan and Mitchell McClenaghan who are playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Mumbai Indians respectively in the Indian Premier League are also a part of the team. The charity match is organised in order to raise funds for the reconstruction of the venues in the West Indies that were demolished by Hurricanes Maria and Irma last year.

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