The Afro-Asian Cup, which will be held in 2023, may see Virat Kohli, Shaheen Afridi, Jasprit Bumrah, and Babar Azam play together on the same side. Players from Asian and African countries compete against one another in this tournament.
It was held in 2005 and 2007 before being cancelled owing to political and broadcasting concerns. The competition, on the other hand, is anticipated to see daylight once more. The competition will be resurrected in a T20 format, according to the organisers. It will most likely be performed in June and July of the following year.
ACC head of commercial and events Prabhakaran Thanraj told Forbes.com, “We haven’t got confirmation from the boards yet. We are still working on the white paper and it will be submitted to both boards. But our plan is for the best players from India and Pakistan to be playing in the Asian XI. Once plans are finalized we will go into market for sponsorship and a broadcaster. It will be a massive event. Really, really big.”
In past editions, players like MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Shoaib Akhtar and Sanath Jayasuriya were among the finest Indian cricketers that competed in the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup. The Asia XI, managed by Mahela Jayawardene, won all three games of the three-match ODI series against Justin Kemp’s Africa XI.
Border tensions have strained relations between India and Pakistan, but cricket has kept ordinary people in both nations connected. Virat Kohli has a sizable fan base in Pakistan, whereas Babar Azam has a sizable following in India.
