Thisara Perera will be part of the World XI in the T20 International against West Indies to be played at Lord’s on 31 May, the ICC announced on Thursday.
The match is being staged to raise funds to rebuild and restore five major cricket venues at the heart of Caribbean communities that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria last year.
Perera, who was also a part of the World XI team that played a three-match T20 series against Pakistan in 2017, said, “I am privileged to have made the World XI side for a second time after having also played in the series against Pakistan in Lahore last year.
“I’m also very happy because I have been given the opportunity to contribute in what I think is a very good cause. It is heartening to note that players have come together for helping rebuild stadia in the West Indies. The West Indies have contributed a lot to world cricket over the years and they deserve all support from our generation of players, he added.
Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Thisara Perera – were the first set of players to confirm their participation.
Afridi and Malik were part of the Pakistan squad that won the ICC World T20 2009 at Lord’s, while Perera was a member of the Sri Lanka side that lifted the silverware in Dhaka in 2014.
The three World T20 winners will lend a lot of weight to the ICC World XI side which will see more names being added in what is expected to be a star-studded line-up led by England’s white-ball captain Eoin Morgan, who has already been confirmed to lead the side.
Carlos Brathwaite-led Windies too are a strong side boasting big names like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree and Andre Russell and will be looking to give off their best and show the might that helped them win the ICC World Twenty20 title two years ago.
Courtesy – icc-cricket.com
