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The Afro-Asia Cup, a series of white-ball games played between an Asian XI and an African XI, is set to be revived according to the Africa Cricket Association (ACA), following the AGM on Saturday, revealed ESPNcricinfo.
During the AGM, a six-person interim committee was appointed to restructure the ACA. It was also decided to increase the number of competitive opportunities for players on the continent. The Afro-Asia Cup has only been played twice before, in South Africa in 2005 and India in 2007. A third edition was scheduled for 2009 in Kenya but it never took place. If the tournament goes on to take place, players from India and Pakistan, who do not play bilateral series against each other, could end up playing in the same Asia XI team. "The Afro-Asia Cup, apart from the cricket, brings much-needed financial input to the organisation, and the appetite is huge from both ends. 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," Tavengwa Mukuhlani, interim chair of the ACA, who is also the Zimbabwe Cricket Chair, said at a press conference as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. In 2005, the three-match ODI series ended 1-1 after the final game was affected by rain. In 2007, the Asia XI secured victory in all three matches. Inzamam-ul-Haq captained the 2005 Asia squad, which included Rahul Dravid, Ashish Nehra and Anil Kumble. The 2007 Asia XI squad featured MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar alongside Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar. According to CEO Cassim Suliman, the ACA is also planning to host a "mini version of the IPL and said, "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." "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. (ANI)
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