Babar Azam to play under Rohit Sharma? THIS tournament likely to return after 18 years

We often see foreign players playing under Rohit Sharma in 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 in their team. This is not just a dream; it's part of a plan that might soon come to fruition. The African Cricket Association (ACA) is reportedly planning to organize such a tournament.

The recent AGM of the African Cricket Association discussed reviving the Afro-Asia Cup, previously held in 2005 and 2007. If the African board's plan succeeds, we might soon witness its third edition. Cricket fans are familiar with the Afro-Asia Cup contested between African XI and Asian XI. Most players in the African XI are from South Africa and Zimbabwe, while the Asian XI features players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

Inzamam captained Sehwag, Dravid

The Afro-Asia Cup was first organized in 2005. Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq captained the Asian XI, while Shaun Pollock led the African XI, which also included Graeme Smith. The Asian XI under Inzamam featured six Indian players: Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, and Zaheer Khan.

Jayawardene, Shoaib Malik in 2007

The Afro-Asia Cup was held again in 2007. Mahela Jayawardene captained the Asian XI in ODIs, while Shoaib Malik led the T20I side, which included Sachin Tendulkar and Munaf Patel. The ODI team featured MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan.

Meanwhile, the ACA is also considering launching a mini version of the 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." ACA CEO Cassim Suliman 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," he added.