We’ve often seen foreign players playing under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the IPL. But imagine this scenario: Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli captaining an international match with players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Mehidy Hasan, and Matheesha Pathirana on their team. This isn’t just a dream; it’s part of a plan that could soon become a reality. The Africa Cricket Association (ACA) is reportedly planning such a match.
In the recently held AGM of the African Cricket Association, there was a discussion on re-holding the Afro-Asia Cup. This tournament has been organized in 2005 and 2007. If the plan of the African Board succeeds, then its third edition can be seen soon. Cricket lovers know that the Afro-Asia Cup is played between the African XI and the Asian XI. Most of the players in the African XI are from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan can be seen in the Asian XI.
Sehwag-Dravid also played under Inzamam’s captaincy for the first time
The Afro-Asia Cup was organized for the first time in 2005. Then Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq captained the Asian XI. Shaun Pollock was given the command of Africa XI. Graeme Smith also captained the African team. In the Asian XI team led by Inzamam, 6 Indian players Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan were included.
Jayawardene and Shoaib Malik captained in 2007
The Afro-Asia Cup was played once again in 2007. This time the tournament was played in two formats, ODI and T20. Mahela Jayawardene captained the Asian XI in the ODI format. Shoaib Malik led the T20 team. Sachin Tendulkar and Munaf Patel were included in the Asian T20 team. Similarly, the ODI team included MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan.
Probable Asia XI for the Afro-Asia Cup!🌍🏏 pic.twitter.com/FKv8WPnXvB
— CricketGully (@thecricketgully) November 6, 2024
Meanwhile, the ACA is also mulling over introducing a mini version of IPL. “We are planning to, after board approval, bring the Africa Premier League. That’s what we’re busy with at the moment on the sponsorship. Once that comes together, we will go to the board, the board will okay it, and then we will take it from there.”
“It’s the mini vision of the IPL. So we’re taking that concept of the IPL and driving that concept to ensure that everybody benefits in that aspect. As far as where we’re going to play, the board will decide. “We’re going to look at facilities that are going to warrant spectator viewership. It’s still at the initial stage. Obviously, we want to do things right the first time to make sure we get the ball rolling on it. But the board will decide exactly who’s hosting and from there, we’ll take it to them from there. It’s going to be like the IPL format, but with a lower status and then we’ll grow it from there,” they said in an exclusive interview.
Looking at everything closely, it is clear that every player from India, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, is of world-class calibre. Similarly, Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi have also proven themselves on the world cricket stage. It goes without saying that if players from both teams were to play together, it would undoubtedly send shockwaves through the entire cricketing world.