Cricket fans can finally see Virat Kohli and Babar Azam playing together if the Afro-Asia Cup event takes a positive shape. The Africa Cricket Association (ACA) said that the Afro-Asia Cup, where an African XI plays against an Asia XI, will happen once again. At their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, the ACA formed a six-member interim committee and discussed ways to give more opportunities to cricketers in Asia and Africa.
The first tournament was in 2005 in South Africa, and India hosted it in 2007. Kenya was meant to host the 2009 tournament, but it did not happen for some reason.
An ESPNCricinfo report reads, “The Afro-Asia Cup, apart from the cricket, brings the much-needed financial input to the organisation, and the appetite is huge from both ends,” Tavengwa Mukuhlani, interim chair of the ACA, said in a press conference.”
“We have had conversations with our counterparts within the Asia Cricket Council, and obviously our African contingents, they want the Afro-Asia Cup to be revived,” Mukuhlani, who’s also the Zimbabwe Cricket Chair, added.
If the Afro-Asia Cup happens, it would let Indian and Pakistani cricketers play together. Since 2013, India and Pakistan have only met in ICC and ACC events, not in series between the two countries. India last went to Pakistan for the 2008 Asia Cup.
In 2005, the series ended 1-1 because the last match was canceled. Key players included Virender Sehwag, Shahid Afridi, and Sanath Jayasuriya. The team was led by Inzamam-ul-Haq, with stars like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, and Ashish Nehra.
In 2007, Asia won 3-0. The team had Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Yousuf, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, and Harbhajan Singh.
