CHARITY GAME

Sri Lanka to host World XI in charity T20

by Rex Clementine • Last updated on

The funds generated from the game will proceed towards the flood victims and the patients suffering from the chronic kidney disease prevalent in the country. © Getty

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will host a charity match between World XI and Sri Lanka XI on September 8 in a Twenty20 match scheduled to be played at Kettarama, SLC chief Ashley de Silva told Cricbuzz.

The match that will be played two days after the one off T20I between Sri Lanka and India, will feature a host of present and retired overseas stars. While Tillakaratne Dilshan has agreed to play the charity match, Kumar Sangakkara is unavailable for the game due to his commitment with English county Surrey. Former captain Mahela Jayawardene also has prior commitment, but has agreed to adjust and make himself available, SLC CEO Ashley de Silva told a media briefing.

"After this was sanctioned by the ICC, we wrote to all the member countries asking whether the players could be released, De Silva said. "We have received tremendous support from all the boards. All the funds raised through this event, will go to Cricket Aid not only to support the disaster affected children, plus there were a lot of areas that were affected by flood and those affected by drought.

"We have been supporting our former cricketers who have financial needs. There were some cricketers in the recent past who had cancer and we will be able to support all of them through this project."

The World XI will compromise of players from seven countries, including players from India. SLC has identified 13 players to represent the World XI and will release the team once they finalize the composition of the side.

The match will be telecast globally.

© Cricbuzz