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The tournament sees the best players of both Asia and Africa represent their continental sides as the two teams take on in a series.
Virat Kohli and Babar Azam could play for the same team. Credit: Twitter
After almost two decades, the Afro-Asia Cup is reportedly set to be revived. The tournament sees the best players of both Asia and Africa represent their continental sides as the two sides face off in a series of white-ball matches.
According to a report by ESPNCricinfo, The Africa Cricket Association (ACA) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday where a six-person interim committee was appointed to help improve the number of competitive opportunities in the continent.
Another one of their objectives includes approaching their continental counterparts in the Asia Cricket Council (ACC) to explore competitive opportunities between the two.
The tournament had previously taken place in 2005 (in South Africa) and 2007 (in India). A third edition was on the cards to be played in Kenya but did not take place and the tournament has not been played since.
Another unique opportunity the revival of the inter-continental tournament presents is to see Indian and Pakistan players team up by representing the Asian XI.
“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, who is also the Zimbabwe Cricket Chair, said at a press conference.
“We have had conversations with our counterparts within the Asia Cricket Council (ACC), and obviously our African contingents, they want the Afro-Asia Cup to be revived,” he added.
The report also mentions that no formal request has been made to the ACC, nor has any discussion taken place at their recent meeting in Malaysia.
The 2005 Asia XI was captained by the former Pakistan skipper, Inzamam-ul-Haq and had the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Virender Sehwag opening the batting. Other big-name stars that were on the side include Zaheer Khan, Shoaib Akhtar, Anil Kumble and Shahid Afridi as well.
The 2007 Asia XI side was led by Mahela Jayawardene and held the likes of Sehwag, Sanath Jayasuriya, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, MS Dhoni and others as well.
The 2005 series was shared between both sides after the third game was washed out. Zaheer Khan was the highest wicket-taker in the series with 9 wickets while Kumar Sangakkara finished as the highest run-scorer with 97 runs.
In the 2007 series, Asia XI took the series with a 3-0 win having won all three ODIS. Morne Morkel was the highest wicket-taker in the series with 8 scalps while Shaun Pollock top scored with 223 runs in the three games.
