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Islamabad - The name of an international team playing two Twenty20 matches in Pakistan this weekend was changed on Wednesday but "World XI" was retained despite an objection from the International Cricket Council.
"We have changed the name to International World XI," Mohammad Ali Shah, the organiser and provincial sports minister, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya will lead the International World XI against a Pakistan All Stars side in Karachi on Saturday and Sunday, the first major international cricket in the country since the deadly attack on the Sri Lanka team convoy in 2009 in Lahore.
Shah said he changed the name of the international side after he was informed by the Pakistan Cricket Board about the ICC's objection. He also insisted there was "nothing wrong" if he had retained the words World XI.
ICC spokesperson Samiul Hasan earlier told The AP that it "doesn't permit the names of World or World XI for exhibition matches" - like the ones to be staged in Karachi - and a letter was sent to the PCB on Wednesday.
Apparently World or World XI can be associated only with teams in ICC-sanctioned events, but the matches in Karachi are not ICC approved.
The International World XI includes West Indies players Ricardo Powell, Steven Taylor, Jermaine Charles Lawson and Adam Sanford; South Africa's Justin Kemp, Loots Bosman, Mthandeki Tschabalala, Andre Nel and Andre Seymore; and Afghanistan's Shapoor Zadran and Mohammad Shehzad.
The PCB has allowed its centrally contracted players to compete, with star all-rounder Shahid Afridi leading the All Stars.
The PCB said it had permitted the use of National Stadium but all the other obligations including security, anti-corruption, marketing and broadcasting were the direct responsibility of the organiser.
The All Stars XI also included former captains Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami and Imran Nazir.
