Afro-Asian Cup: Virat Kohli and Babar Azam could very well feature in the same team with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) planning a reboot of the Afro-Asian Cup. The tournament, played twice in 2005 and 2007, saw ensemble teams from two continents fight it out for honours. Now, as part of ACC’s revamp, the tournament could return as soon as next year in a T20 format. Follow Afro-Asian Cup live updates on Insidesport.IN
Afro-Asian Cup: Virat Kohli and Babar Azam in the same team? ACC plans Afro-Asian Cup reboot; India and Pakistan stars to be teammates in Asia XI – Check out
The Afro-Asian Cup is all set to return next year which could see players from India and Pakistan feature as teammates as part of ACC’s revamp led by BCCI secretary Jay Shah. , The new tournament could see players like Babar Azam and Virat Kohli share the dressing room together. India have not played a bilateral series against their arch-rivals since 2012-13 due to political reasons.
Discussions are underway with Jay Shah, the new chairman of African Cricket Association Sumod Damodar and ACC chairman of development committee Mahinda Vallipuram planning for the event to take place in June-July 2023. A decision on the same is likely to be taken at next month’s ICC Annual General Meeting, where the Afro-Asia Cup is likely to be officially ratified and a host potentially determined.
“We haven’t got confirmation from the boards yet,” ACC head of commercial and events Prabhakaran Thanraj told Forbes.
“We are still working on the white paper and it will be submitted to both boards. But our plan is for the best players from India and Pakistan to be playing in the Asian XI. Once plans are finalized we will go into market for sponsorship and a broadcaster. It will be a massive event. Really, really big,” he added.
Afro-Asian Cup: Virat Kohli and Babar Azam in the same team? ACC plans Afro-Asian Cup reboot; India and Pakistan stars to be teammates in Asia XI – Check out
The Afro-Asian Cup was held in 2005 and 2007, which saw the likes of Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag rub their shoulders with Pakistan counterparts Mohammed Yousuf, Mohammed Asif and Shahid Afridi. Stars from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh made the Asia XI. The Africa Xi comprised players from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
The plan is for the Afro-Asia Cup to become an annual fixture and also feature players from Associate nations. Since the last edition, teams like Afghanistan, UAE and Nepal have all stepped up in Asia, while Africa has seen the rise of Namibia in recent years.
“I would love to see the opportunity to build the bridge and allow the players to play together,” said Sumod Damodar to Forbes.
He added, “I’m sure the players want it to happen and to keep the politics away from it. It would be a beautiful thing to see players from Pakistan and India playing on the same team.”
Afro-Asian Cup: Virat Kohli and Babar Azam in the same team? ACC plans Afro-Asian Cup reboot; India and Pakistan stars to be teammates in Asia XI – Check out
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