Asia XI vs World XI T20I series postponed because of Coronavirus threat

What's the story?

In a disappointing development for the cricket universe, the much-anticipated series between Asia XI and World XI has been postponed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

The background

To celebrate the birth centenary of Bangladesh's Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, BCB had decided to organize two special exhibition games featuring the best XIs from Asia and the rest of the world. Last week, the board announced the squads for this competition, which included big names like Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul.

The heart of the matter

Talking to the reporters on Wednesday (11th March), BCB President Nazmul Hasan stated that the matches will not take place on 21st and 22nd March as the cricket governing body of Bangladesh has delayed the series. He said:

"We have postponed those two matches for the time being. We are having problem hosting the matches on 21 and 22 and so we have deferred it."

He further mentioned there were a lot of restrictions from all quarters and thus, the board was left with no other option but to postpone the series as well as the concert which was scheduled to take place in the build-up to this series.

Also see – CSK Team

What's next?

Hasan clarified that the series will be played after a few months and hence, it will be interesting to see when the new schedule does come out.