The revival of the Afro-Asian Cup, a series of white-ball matches played between an Asian XI and an African XI, is on the cards according to the African cricket Association (ACA). The continental body held its Annual General Meeting on Saturday, where it appointed a six-person interim committee to restructure the ACA and increase the number of competitive opportunities for players on the continent.
“The Afro-Asian Cup, in addition to cricket, brings much-needed financial input to the organisation, and the appetite is huge on both sides,” said ACA acting president Tavengwa Mukuhlani, who is also Zimbabwe cricket president. he said at a press conference. “We have had discussions with our counterparts within the Asia cricket Council and obviously our African contingents want the Afro-Asian Cup to be revived.”
Representatives from the Asian cricket Council had not responded to ESPNcricinfo at the time of publication about the return of the Afro-Asian Cup, which has been dominated by Asia. In 2005, the three-match ODI series was shared back-to-back after a rain-hit last match and in 2007, Asia XI won all three matches.
The 2005 Asia team was captained by Inzamam-ul-Haq and included Rahul Dravid, Ashish Nehra and Anil Kumble, while the 2007 Asia XI team included MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar along with Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar. At the time, relations between India and Pakistan were warm on and off the cricket field, and the two countries played bilateral cricket regularly. However, the 2008 Mumbai attacks changed that equation and the teams have since played a bilateral white-ball series, in 2012-13. Otherwise they have only played in ICC events, and Pakistan have traveled to India on a couple of occasions – India have not played in Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup.
The ACA also plans to launch a “mini version of the IPL”, according to CEO Cassim Suliman, called the Africa Premier League, although it is still in the planning phase. “We are planning, after the approval of the board of directors, to bring the African Premier League. That is what we are busy with at the moment with the sponsorship. Once everything is together, we will go to the board of directors, the board of directors will approve it and then we’ll go from there,” he said. “It’s the mini vision of the IPL. So we are taking that concept of the IPL and pushing that concept forward to ensure that everyone benefits in that aspect. As far as where we are going to play, the board will decide. We.” We are going to analyze the facilities that will guarantee the audience. It is still in the initial stage. Obviously, we want to do things right the first time to make sure everything works, but the board will decide exactly who. hosting and from there, we will take it to you from there. “It will be like the IPL format but with a lower status and then we will expand it from there.”
There is currently only one franchise tournament in Africa, South Africa’s SA20, but Mukuhlani was hopeful that a South African franchise could participate in the African Premier League and committed Zimbabwean players to the proposed tournament. “The participation of South Africa and Zimbabwe gives context to the competition, and there is also the experience that upcoming teams gain from playing alongside players from South Africa and Zimbabwe,” he said. “So yes, we will participate.”
