The Afro-Asia Cup is set to be revived and we might see the dream team of Asia featuring Virat Kohli, Shaheen Afridi, Babar Azam, and Shaheen Afridi playing together against the best of the African continent.
For the unversed, the Afro-Asia Cup was a tournament in which a combined Asian XI took on an African XI in a series of international matches in 2005 and 2006. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh players combined in Asia XI to take on players from South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Shahid Afridi, and Shoaib Akhtar, played together. AB de Villiers, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Brendan Taylor, Steve Tikolo, etc formed the Africa XI.
In 2005, a three-match ODI series was held which ended 1-1. Two years later, the competition returned and expanded to include a T20I as well. Asia XI completed a clean sweep winning the lone T20I and the ODI series 3-0.
However, the Afro-Asia Cup was abandoned after 2007 when tensions arose between India and Pakistan, especially after the 2008 Mumbai Terror attacks.
Previous attempts to recreate the competition in a T20 format in 2023 failed to materialize. However, Forbes claimed that there is a chance the event will be revived. These plans failed due to difficulties within the African Cricket Association (ACA).
South Africa and Zimbabwe have stepped in to help stabilize the ACA and cricket growth.
Jay Shah, the new ICC chairman urged to revive the Afro-Asia Cup
According to the latest Forbes report, former Africa Cricket Association (ACA) chair Sumod Damodar expressed regret for not pressing harder for the Afro-Asia Cup’s comeback. He confessed that ACA members’ lack of understanding hampered the tournament’s rebirth.
Damodar believes that the incoming ICC chairman, Jay Shah, and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) head of development, Mahinda Vallipuram, can help resuscitate the Afro-Asia Cup. He noted that they had taken proactive steps to encourage the tournament’s revival.
“Personally, I am very hurt that it (Afro-Asia Cup) didn’t happen. There was not adequate momentum through the ACA, but it is being looked at again. I think it was basically a lack of understanding and not buying into the concept. Our members are regretting it. It needed to be pushed by Africa.
With Mahinda now on the ICC board and Jay Shah running the ICC, that could bring a bit more momentum to this cause. Both of them have always been proactive in trying to make this happen,” Damodar told Forbes.
Should the efforts succeed, an Asian XI might include Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah alongside Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Afridi.
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