Afro-Asia Cup set to be revived after almost two decades

The revival of the Afro-Asia Cup – a series of white-ball matches played between an Asian XI and an African XI – is on the cards according to the Africa Cricket Association (ACA). The continental body held its AGM 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.

One of its aims is to reach out to other organisations, such as the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and explore cross-continental opportunities such as the Afro-Asia Cup. The tournament was only played twice before, in 2005 in South Africa and 2007 in India. A third edition, scheduled for 2009 in Kenya, never took place but almost two decades later, it may happen after all. Should the tournament take place again, it presents a unique opportunity for players from both India and Pakistan – who do not play bilateral cricket against each other currently – to be part of the same Asia XI team.

“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, interim chair of the ACA, who is also the Zimbabwe Cricket Chair, said at a press conference. “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.”

While ACC representatives did not respond to ESPNcricinfo at the time of publication about the return of the Afro-Asia Cup, it is learned that no formal request has been made to the ACC, neither has any discussion around this taken place at the body’s recent meeting in Malaysia. In 2005, the three-match ODI series was shared 1-1 after a rained-out final game, and in 2007, the Asia XI won all three matches.

The 2005 Asia squad was captained by Inzamam-ul-Haq and included Rahul Dravid, Ashish Nehra and Anil Kumble while the 2007 Asia XI squad included MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar alongside 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 regular bilateral cricket. The 2008 Mumbai attacks changed that equation, however, and the sides have played one white-ball bilateral series since, in 2012-13. They have only played in ICC events otherwise, with Pakistan traveling to India on a couple of occasions: India have not played in Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup.

The ACA is also planning to launch a “mini version of the IPL,” according to CEO Cassim Suliman, called the Africa Premier League, though it remains in the planning phase. “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 said. “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.”

There is currently only one franchise tournament in Africa, South Africa’s SA20, but Mukuhlani was hopeful that a South African franchise could be involved in the Africa 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 the upcoming teams get from playing alongside players from South Africa and Zimbabwe,” he said. “So yes, we will participate.”

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket