Virat Kohli and Babar Azam to play together? India and Pakistan team may line up together in Afro-Asia Cup revival

India’s Virat Kohli could line up beside Pakistan skipper Babar Azam in the same team next year with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) planning to revive the Afro-Asia Cup. The 50-overs series was first played in 2005 before being discontinued after its next edition in 2007 as relations between India and Pakistan soured.

Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene led an Asia XI that also included players from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the last edition, beating an Africa side comprising cricketers from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya 3-0. India and Pakistan have suspended bilateral cricket and their players do not take part in the other country`s T20 leagues, but the arch-rivals still draw massive crowds whenever they face each other at global tournaments.

ACC President Jay Shah, also the secretary of the influential Indian board, told news agency Reuters the Cup’s return may get rubber-stamped at an ACC meeting next month. “We have gone through some proposals on this subject,” he said.

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“It is a premium tournament which will not only generate revenue but also help develop cricket in Africa. We are currently working on the legal aspects.”

The ACC will look to identify a venue for the competition on the sidelines of the International Cricket Council’s annual general meeting in Birmingham, where it will also seek to ratify its development programmes for junior and women’s cricket.

“These will be tabled during our meeting where these measures will be ratified and put into action,” Shah added.

Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Babar Azam can lay claim to being the top ranked T20I batter in the world for the longest period of time after he maintained his spot at the head of table on the latest ICC T20 batting rankings. Former India captain Virat Kohli was the No.1 ranked T20I batter for a total of 1,013 days during his reign last decade, but Babar has now surpassed this number following his long-standing stay at the top.

The Pakistan skipper is currently rated as the No.1 batter in T20Is and ODIs and recently suggested he was keen to try and claim top billing in all three formats of the game.

(with Reuters inputs)