Afro-Asia Cup to be revived: All you need to know; history of past editions

Almost two decades since the last edition of the tournament, the Afro-Asia Cup could reportedly make a comeback, as per the Africa Cricket Association. The Afro-Asia Cup was a 50-over tournament that took place in 2005 and 2007, with two teams —Africa XI and Asia XI competing for the trophy. Both the tournaments consisted of best-of-three matches.

‘Appetite is huge from both ends’

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, the ACA, during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, had held discussions on approaching organisations like the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in a bid to “explore cross-continental opportunities”, with Afro-Asia Cup being an option. “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,” Tavengwa Mukuhlani, ACA’s interim chairman, told a press conference.

Mukuhlani is also the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket. “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,” he added.

More from First Cricket News

India vs Pakistan Asia Cup Match LIVE Updates: Amid boycott call, Men In Blue get ready to face arch-rivals in Dubai BCCI defends decision to play vs Pakistan in Asia Cup months after Pahalgam attack: 'If we boycott...'

The report adds that the ACC have not responded on the potential revival of the Afro-Asa Cup. There were no discussions on this topic when the ACC held an executive Board Meeting in Malaysia recently.

Should the tournament be revived, players of both India and Pakistan could feature for the Asia XI side . India and Pakistan have not played bilateral series recently due to political tensions and have only faced off in ICC and ACC tournaments.

Looking back at previous editions of Afro-Asia Cup

South Africa had hosted the inaugural edition of the Afro-Asia Cup in 2005 whereas the second edition, in 2007, was held in India. A third edition in Kenya had been planned in 2009, but that was eventually cancelled.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

'Won't require surgery...': Real reason behind Jasprit Bumrah's absence from 5th Test revealed in new report

PCB bans players from WCL over India-Pakistan match controversy

In the inaugural edition in 2005, Africa XI were led by Shaun Pollock whereas Inzamam-ul-Haq captained Asia XI. Some of the biggest names that took part in the edition included AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Steve Tikolo and Mark Boucher for Africa XI, whereas Asia XI had names like Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi.

Africa XI won the first ODI in Centurion by two runs. Having been asked to bat first, Africa XI were restricted to 198, with Ashwell Prince top-scoring with 78 runs. Zaheer Khan (3/37) was the standout bowler for Asia XI. Asia XI were off to a sedate start in the chase, with Sangakkara and Sehwag scoring 35 and 21 respectively. Their middle-order crumbled, but Abdul Razzaq (38), Anil Kumble (24), Zaheer Khan (20*) and Shoaib Akhtar (15) scored valuable runs but failed to take Asia XI over the finish line.

Asia XI secured parity in the series with Kumar Sangakkara (61) starring in the second match in Durban. Sangakkara’s knock led Asia XI to 267/7 after batting first. In Africa XI’s reply, Zaheer (3/43) once again finished with a three-fer to see off the hosts for 250, thus completing a 17-run win for Asia XI. The third match in Durban was washed out due to rain, and the series eventually ended 1-1.

Asia XI’s squad in the 2007 edition included stalwarts like MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Yousuf. Mahela Jayawardene led the side. Justin Kemp led the Africa XI side that included de Villiers, Boucher, Morne Morkel and Albie Morkel. The first ODI was held in Bengaluru, whereas Chennai hosted the second and third games.

Asia XI had won the toss and opted to bat first. Jayawardene and Yousuf scored fifties to take the hosts to 317/9. Africa XI batters collapsed under pressure in reply, and were restricted to 87/7 in the 21st over, but Shaun Pollock led his team’s recovery with a knock of 130.

That, however, was not enough for the visitors as they were dismissed for 283 as Asia XI scripted a 34-run win. The second match, too, was a high-scoring one. Fifties from Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Yousuf powered the Asians to 337/7, and despite valiant efforts from Boucher (73) and Dippenaar (67), Africa could only manage 306.

MS Dhoni starred with the bat in the third match after his unbeaten 139 led Asia XI to 331/8. Jayawardene too scored a century for the Asians. AB de Villiers (70), Yusi Sibanda (45), Justin Kemp (86) and Shaun Pollock (58*) all worked hard but Africa XI fell short of a consolation victory by 13 runs after they posted a total of 318/7.

Asia XI won the tournament 3-0. MS Dhoni was adjudged Player of the Match in the third game, whereas Jayawardene, who top Asia XI’s run-scoring charts with 217 runs, won the Player of the Series award.

Mini-IPL like tournament? 

ACA CEO Cassim Suliman has said that the ACA plans to launch a “Mini IPL-like tournament” in the form of Africa Premier League.

“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,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

“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,” he added.