Colly in historic tour to Pakistan

PAUL Collingwood is the only English representative in the World XI squad that will travel to Pakistan to play three T20Is next month.

The Independence Cup will see international cricket return to Pakistan for the first time since an attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore in 2009 caused international teams to stop touring the country.

Since those attacks, Pakistan have played their home games in other venues, such as the UAE, though Zimbabwe did play three ODIs and two T20s in the country in 2015 – a tour that was marred by a suicide bombing outside the Lahore stadium.

Faf du Plessis will captain this World XI side that features four other South Africans, with representatives from seven nations in total.

Hashim Amla, Morne Morkel, David Miller and Imran Tahir are the other South Africa players with Australia providing three players – George Bailey, Ben Cutting and Tim Paine.

There are no Indian players in the squad which also features two from the West Indies as well as a player apiece from Bangladesh, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Du Plessis said: “All the members of the squad have complete faith and trust in the assessment and judgment of the security experts, who have assured us that there will be no compromise on the safety and security of all those involved in the series.”

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi added: “This will be an auspicious moment for Pakistan cricket and I am positive that it will serve to open the doors of international cricket in Pakistan.”

World XI squad: Faf du Plessis (captain, South Africa), Hashim Amla (South Africa), Samuel Badree (West Indies), George Bailey (Australia), Paul Collingwood (England), Ben Cutting (Australia), Grant Elliott (New Zealand), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh), David Miller (South Africa), Morne Morkel (South Africa), Tim Paine (wicketkeeper, Australia), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Darren Sammy (West Indies).