Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is set to celebrate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, by hosting two T20 matches in March 2020 between the Asia XI and the World XI.

While the ICC is said to have given the games official status, looking at the current bilateral situation between India and Pakistan, one would think that it will come to either India or Pakistan players when it comes to filling the eleven names in the Asia XI team sheet, reports Indian newspaper the Hindustan Times.

Speaking to IANS, BCCI Joint Secretary Jayesh George though has made it clear that such a scenario where both India and Pakistan players play in the Asia XI wouldn’t arise because the message is that there will be no Pakistani players invited, added the report.

“What we are aware of is that there will be no Pakistan players in the Asia XI. That is what the message is, so, there is no question of both countries coming together or picking one over the other. Sourav Ganguly will decide the five players who will be a part of the Asia XI,” he said.

Things have gone from bad to worse in between the South Asian archrivals in recent times with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ehsan Mani looking to take a dig at the Indian government and saying that the security situation in India is worse than in Pakistan and teams should ideally be happy to play in Pakistan.

“We have proved Pakistan is safe, if someone isn’t coming then they should prove that it’s unsafe. At this time, India is a far greater security risk than Pakistan," he commented.