Published: Mar 04, 2014, 03:37 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 04, 2014, 09:16 PM (IST)
Karachi: Mar 4, 2014
Veteran Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal have reportedly been included among the list of players being confirmed for this year’s Lord’s bicentenary match.
The match will take place between Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord’s and is captained by Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar, and a Rest of the World XI, which will be led by Australia great Shane Warne.
According to The Nation, Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal will also take part in the July 5 fixture, which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the current Lord’s ground in north-west London and all the three Asian stars confirmed on Monday for the fixture have enjoyed previous success at Lord”s.
Afridi said that he is looking forward to playing at Lord’s and thanked the MCC for inviting him to take part in the game, adding that he cannot wait to share a pitch with the other great players especially in such an amazing setting.
Afridi produced a match-winning performance when he made 54 not out in Pakistan’s 2009 ICC World Twenty20 final victory over Sri Lanka at Lord’s and also played his last Test at the ”home of cricket” a year later, while off-spinner Ajmal also played in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 final.
Meanwhile Iqbal has a coveted place on the Lord’s honours board having, as a 21-year-old, made 103 in the second innings of the first Test against England in 2010 – the first century at the ground by a Bangladeshi batsman, the report added.
