India’s star batsman Virat Kohli and Pakistan’s renowned player Babar Azam might be seen playing together in the same team soon. They could represent the Asia team in the Afro-Asia Cup, as the African Cricket Association (ACA) is preparing to bring back the prestigious tournament after 17 years. On Tuesday, ACA’s interim president and Zimbabwe Cricket’s chairman, Tavengwa Mukuhlani, gave a statement on this topic.
ACA in talks with ACC
Mukuhlani explained that organizing this tournament would be financially beneficial. Discussions are ongoing with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) regarding this. According to Mukuhlani, quoted by ESPNcricinfo, “Apart from cricket, the Afro-Asia Cup brings essential financial resources for the organization, and there is a strong will on both sides for this. We have been in talks with our counterparts in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and with associations across the African continent. They want the Afro-Asia Cup to be revived.”
Tournament held twice before
In this tournament, teams from both continents compete against each other. The Afro-Asia Cup has been held twice so far: in 2005 in South Africa (which ended in a draw) and in 2007 in India (where Asia won). The third edition was scheduled to take place in Kenya in 2009 but did not happen. As of now, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has not commented on the plans to restart this tournament.
Legendary players who participated
In 2005, the Asian team was led by Pakistan’s captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and included Indian players like Rahul Dravid, Ashish Nehra, and Anil Kumble. In 2007, India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar participated, while Pakistan was represented by Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Yousuf, and Shoaib Akhtar.