Virat Kohli, Babar Azam set to be teammates as popular series on verge of revival

Cricket News

The revival of the once-popular tournament after two decades could unite India’s Virat Kohli and Pakistan’s Babar Azam, two modern-day greats and fierce rivals, as teammates.

Babar Azam (L) and Virat Kohli (R) are one of the modern-day batting greats. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi: Cricket fans could see Virat Kohli and Babar Azam playing for the same team after talks of the revival of the Afro-Asia Cup – a series of white-ball matches played between an Asian XI and an African XI – reached a positive conclusion.

According to a report in Cricinfo, the Africa Cricket Association (ACA), following its AGM on Saturday, appointed a six-person interim committee to restructure the council and work extensively towards boosting the number of competitive opportunities for players in Africa.

One of the main focus areas would be to reach out to other organisations, including the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and explore the opportunity to organise cross-continental series such as the Afro-Asia Cup.

Virat and Babar set to be teammates

The popular tournament was only played twice – in 2005 in South Africa and 2007 in India. The plans to host the third edition, which was scheduled for 2009 in Kenya, were shelved.

Now almost two decades later, the third edition which never saw the day of light is set to happen in the near future. If the series is revived, it will spark a unique set of events by allowing the fans to see players from both India and Pakistan – who do not play bilateral cricket – to be teammates in the Asia XI team.

Imagine Virat and Babar, two modern-day greats and fierce rivals sharing the same dressing room and batting together. The sight of Mohammad Rizwan and his nemesis Jasprit Bumrah will also be one to behold.

Tavengwa Mukuhlani, interim chair of the ACA, who is also the Zimbabwe Cricket Chair, addressed the press and said that the Afro-Asia Cup will not only give much-needed opportunities to the African cricketers but will also be a huge financial boost for the organisation.

Pakistan legend Inzamam-ul-Haq captained the 2005 Asia squad which also included Rahul Dravid, Ashish Nehra and Anil Kumble. Meanwhile, Indian icons MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistani legends Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar were part of the 2007 Asia XI squad.

During that period, the cricketing relations between India and Pakistan were warm and both countries regularly played bilateral cricket. However, the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks changed the whole scenario with both teams playing just one bilateral series (2012-13) since then. India and Pakistan only play in ICC events currently. While Pakistan have travelled to India twice, India have not played in Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup.

Awestruck and inspired by sports since childhood, I was fortunate enough to earn a living by joining the sports media industry in 2007. It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride ever since. Just like a Bollywood movie, my professional journey, which began 15 years ago, is filled with both happy and sad moments all along with unexpected twists. A cricket buff and football fanatic, I am one of those who love an underdog story. I have had working stints with some of the most prominent media organisations in the country including Zee Sports, Ten Sports, ESPN, NDTV.

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