Virat Kohli and Babar Azam could play in the same team as Afro-Asia Cup to be revived after 17 years - Reports

The Afro-Asia Cup was last played in 2007.

Players of the Indian cricket team and Pakistan cricket team could be seen playing in the same line-up as the Afro-Asia Cup could be revived soon, according to a report in ESPNcricinfo.

The Africa Cricket Association (ACA) is leading the way in the talks of the potential return of this cross-continental series that was last played in 2007.

In its latest AGM on Saturday, where it appointed a six-person interim committee to restructure the organisation, the ACA considering bringing forward the topic of reviving the Afro-Asia Cup to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

The two key reasons for ACA’s aim to bring back the Afro-Asia Cup are for more opportunities for players in the African continent and to boost the organisation’s finances.

Tavengwa Mukuhlani, the interim chair of the ACA, said, “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. 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.”

If the Afro-Asia Cup does indeed return, we could see the Indian players and the Pakistan players, along with those from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka line up together. We could witness superstars Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Jasprit Bumrah playing in the same team!

How many Afro-Asia Cups have been played so far?

The Afro-Asia Cup has been played twice so far, in 2005 in South Africa and 2007 in India, both tournaments were of three-match ODI series. The 2005 edition was tied at 1-1 with one game being washed out due to rain. Asia XI swept the 2007 edition by 3-0.

However, it would be a tough task to have both PCB and BCCI allow their players to play together since they don’t even compete in bilateral matches anymore – the last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was in 2013 – due to political tensions between the two nations. Over the last 11 years, the two teams have faced off only in ICC and Asia Cup events.

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