Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is set for an international return after he confirmed his participation for a T20I match between ICC World XI and West Indies. The charity match has been accorded an international status by the game’s governing body- ICC. The one-off T20I will be held at Lord’s on May 31. Earlier, it was speculated that the former Pakistan captain will miss the charity match as he is yet to recover from a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Afridi took to Twitter to confirm his participation. “I will be playing @ICC World XI vs @westindies as I feel strongly to support this as a cricketer & Muslim. I am following the rehab plan my Doctor gave 💯%. My Allah recommends to help people in need with all the power I have. C u @HomeOfCricket on 31st and let’s keep #HopeNotOut (sic),” tweeted Afridi.

The funds from the T20I match will be used to redevelop the stadiums in the Caribbean, which were damaged due to hurricanes last year. Apart from Afridi, Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik is also part of the World XI team. India’s Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya have been named in the squad as well which will be led by England captain Eoin Morgan.

Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane, who has impressed in limited IPL opportunities, was the latest player to be added to the ICC World XI squad after star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan pulled out due to personal reasons.

Meanwhile, the ICC World XI vs Windies will be the will be the 99th T20I game for Afridi if he makes it to the playing XI. His last international outing was against Australia at Mohali in March 2016 during the ICC World T20 tournament.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 19, 2018 02:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).