Will Kohli and Babar play in the same team? Indo-Pak players set to unite as iconic tournament could return after two decades

Virat Kohli and Babar Azam can play in the same team

Photo: AP

Although bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan is far from resuming, players from the two countries can play in the same team and the iconic Afro-Asian Cup is set to return after almost two decades. The tournament was last held in 2007, but the competition is now being prepared to return to the cricket calendar.

The African Cricket Association (ACA) said the tournament is scheduled to be a series of white-ball matches. The competition will pit the best players from Africa and Asia against each other. The first tournament took place in 2005 in South Africa. India hosted the tournament in 2007, but the tournament has not been held since then.

After the annual general meeting, the ACA noted that the tournament would provide financial support to the organization and said that they had discussed the tournament with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

“The Africa Asian Cup, apart from cricket, brings a much-needed financial contribution to the organization and the appetite is huge on both sides. We have held discussions with our colleagues at the Asian Cricket Council and obviously our African contingents want the Africa Asian Cup to be revived,” Tawengwa Mukuhlani, interim chairman of the ACA, said at a press conference.

A report by EspnCricinfo said that the ACA has not yet made any formal request to the ACC. Asia’s cricket governing body did not discuss the tournament at its recent meeting in Malaysia.

If the tournament does resume, players from India and Pakistan could become teammates of the Asian team, as was the case in 2005 and 2007. Both tournaments featured high-quality players from both countries, as well as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

In 2005, the Asian team was led by Inzamam-Ul Haq and included five Indians (Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Ashish Nehra and Rahul Dravid). In 2007, the team was led by Mahela Jayawardene, which included M.S. Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan.

Competition for a place in the Asian team will be much tougher this time around given Afghanistan’s recent rise.