Gavaskar among invitees for Dhaka match

The legendary opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar is likely to be invited by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to witness the opening ceremony of the day-night match to be played between Asian XI and Rest of the World XI as part of the Cricket Week celebrations at Dhaka next month. Gavaskar, along with former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, former West Indian captain Gary Sobers and Australia's Dennis Lillee are certain to be a few of the special invitees, it is reliably learnt.

Also, a few more international players are likely to be included in the teams for match to be played on April 8 at the Banglabandhu National stadium. According to highly placed sources close to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), the country's State Minister Obaidul Qader is believed to have informed the ICC president to include at least one Bangladeshi player in the Asian team.

The ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya on March 7 announced the Asian XI and Rest of the World XI teams to play in a cricket carnival at the stadium which also hosted the mini-World Cup in 1998. A five-member selection committee comprising of selectors Ian Chappell (Australia), Sunil Gavaskar (India), Tony Greig (England), Asif Iqbal (Pakistan), Mike Proctor (South Africa) and moderator (India's Ravi Shastri) selected Wasim Akram (with Sanath Jaysuriya as his deputy) to lead the Asian XI side. The Rest of the World team is being led by former West Indian captain Brian Lara with Australia's Mark Waugh as vice captain.

This very special cricket match is going to be staged as part of the ICC Cricket Week to make the game more popular across the globe. The new Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly had expressed shock over his omission from the team. However, he now has a bright chance to be inducted into the team. If any player from the Bangladesh team is asked to be included, Ganguly too will make it, according to the sources.

In a bid to award Test status to Bangladesh - probably by next June, the ICC has suggested to that country that they have a professional management for the development of cricket. A five-year technical plan has been drawn out in consultation with its Director of Coaching Eddie Barlow of South Africa. The BCB is planning to set up a cricket academy and will decide about having exclusive use of the stadium for cricket only.