Sahara Cup 1997 : Toronto Diaries (Part II)

The Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Ground was the latest off-shore venue hosting cricket in a completely new location of North America, beaming from Singapore to cater the growing middle-class in the subcontinent and its seemingly insatiable appetite for high-octane action. Cricket was beginning to get global and ambitious on the back of a rivalry that was fiercer than the Ashes.

It was surprising that while expanding the footprint to the American continent, the matches were not played in colored clothing! However, the ESPN ratings corroborated the notion that for cricket, the sub-continental fans will let go sleep and watch late into the night. And so, despite a huge time difference, the success of the first edition of the Sahara Cup had laid the foundation for a crackling yearly series. September was a fantastic time to play in Toronto, though the increasingly busy international schedule forced the games to be played within 10-11 days. The situation was not as tiring as it seems because the venue for all matches remained the same, eliminating logistics and travelling time.

Pakistan had unearthed another bowling all-rounder in Azhar Mahmood after his debut 1996

India were having a season of prolonged disappointments when they touched down in Toronto. 1997 was littered with mediocre performances. With just a single win in 8 games, India was the under-dog despite Pakistan missing three of their best players in Wasim Akram, leggie wizard Mushtaq Ahmed and Waqar Younis - who was still completing his county season with Glamorgan. The circumstances hence led to Ramiz Raja being the stand-in Pakistani skipper.

Just as Sourav Ganguly had his moment in the sun in Tests at Lord's last summer, this was to be his breakout series in ODIs. Player of the Match in four back-to-back matches, he basked in the windy and seaming conditions. Already recognized for his ability to pierce even an 7-2 field placing on the off-side, he became a wrecker-in-chief with his right-arm medium pace swing bowling. Pakistan struggled to keep him in check.

Here's a roundup of the completely unexpected series win for India.

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MATCH 1 | September 13, 1997

New faces Abey Kuruvilla and Harvinder Singh were Javagal Srinath's replacements

India came into this game after posting a win against Canada in the warm-up match. Debasis Mohanty and Harvinder Singh debuted in the match in which Pakistan put India in to bat. A steady and sluggish start by openers was later built upon with a quick fire 49 by Ajay Jadeja. Azharuddin too had a good outing with a fifty and pouched 4 catches in the field, a record for any Indian fielder.

India 208 all out | Mohd. Azharuddin 52, Saqlain Mushtaq 5/45

Pakistan 188 all out | Saleem Malik 64, Harvinder Singh 3/44

India won by 20 runs | Player of the Match : Ajay Jadeja

This is part two of the series. Read part I here.

MATCH 2 | September 14, 1997

Inzamam-ul-Haq being restrained after he lost his cool and had an altercation in the stands

The match could have been known for Pakistan's abject collapse, but instead is in folklore for Inzamam-ul-Haq losing his cool and getting involved in a major scuffle.

A Toronto-based Indian Shiv Kumar Thind, wielding a megaphone was constantly taunting Inzamam for his weight. He kept calling him 'aloo' (potato) and fielding at the boundary this irked him particularly. He slyly called for a bat to be brought to him by the Pakistani 12th man (substitute Mohammad Hussain) after having made up his mind that enough was enough. As soon as he got the chance, Inzi rushed through the boundary gate and charged threateningly towards the Indian fan, mouthing a few censured words in fury.

The crowd in the bleachers was taken aback and what ensued was a fracas that led to the play being suspended for close to 40 minutes. On ground security had a tough time restraining the chubby Pakistani batsman who had clearly snapped. Watch below :

Finally as the tempers cooled down, the match was resumed, which India coasted comfortably to win. The match referee Jackie Hendriks of Jamaica handed Inzamam a two-match suspension for his conduct that he deemed unbecoming of an international cricketer and for bringing the game into disrepute. Shiv Kumar Thind, meanwhile adamantly pressed charges against Inzamam and only dropped them after being requested by Sachin Tendulkar.

Promoted to open, Indian wicketkeeper Saba Karim has by his sticks knocked over by Azhar Mahmood

The crowd, both Pakistani and Indian was particularly belligerent that day. Thind was not the only troll in the crowd. Ijaz Ahmed was also ribbed by the crowd. A lesser known anecdote is that Mohammed Azharuddin was also being chided for losing his captaincy and with comments on his relationship with actor-model Sangeeta Bijlani. Azhar chose to ignore the taunts. It was easier for him because he was fielding inside the 30-yard circle as opposed to Inzi; however the muffled noise of the megaphone was audible across the smallish venue.

Pakistan 116 all out | Saleem Malik 36, Debashish Mohanty 3/15

India 119/3 | Sourav Ganguly 32, Saqlain Mushtaq 1/24

India won by 7 wickets | Player of the Match : Sourav Ganguly

MATCH 3 | September 17, 1997

Consistent rain had reduced the Pakistani innings to 31.5 overs and India was chasing a target of 141 runs in 25 overs. Subsequent lashes of rain led to abandoning of the match. A replay was scheduled on the rest day.

Pakistan 169/3 (31.5 overs ) | Saeed Anwar 74, Sourav Ganguly 2/39

Match replayed

MATCH 4 | September 18, 1997

Young fans catching some action from the bleachers on the ground

India snailed to a sub-par total of 182/6, allowing Pakistan to come back into the series like they had in 1996. Riding on Shahid Afridi's quickfire 44, Pakistan were well on their way to pull a match back; however they collapsed from 103/3 in the 19th over to 148 all out in the 37th. Ganguly, with his seam bowling got a career best figures of 5/16 and it is here that Geoffrey Boycott's often nickname for him - The Prince of Calcutta stuck to him. He made look everything easy and owned the series with the ball, bat and attitude.

India 182/6 | Mohd. Azharuddin 67, Mohammad Akram 2/28

Pakistan 148 all out | Shahid Afridi 44, Sourav Ganguly 5/16

India won by 34 runs | Player of the Match : Sourav Ganguly

MATCH 5 | September 20, 1997

On a cold and windy day, India reeled off the fourth straight victory in Toronto which was completely against the odds offered by the bookmakers. In another curtailed match due to a soaked outfield, Pakistan were taught a lesson in anchoring a tense chase from the front by Ganguly. India had to get the runs in 26 overs after being docked 2 overs owing to slow run-rate. Pakistan uncharacteristically fluffed 3 run-outs, Moin Khan missed a simple stumping chance, while Wasim Aram dropped Ganguly on the boundary.

Clocking in another all round performance like it was just another Saturday

Pakistan 159/6 (28 overs) | Azhar Mahmood 33*, Harvinder Singh 2/25

India 162/3 | Sourav Ganguly 75*, Shahid Nazir 3/38

India won by 7 wickets | Player of the Match : Sourav Ganguly

MATCH 6 | September 21, 1997

Ganguly sweeps enroute to stroke-filled 96

This was the third time in the series that matches were played on consecutive days. Pakistan finally got on board and prevented a whitewash with a convincing 5-wicket victory with 37 balls to spare. Sourav Ganguly's 96 set up a target of 251 off 48 overs after being 2 overs for slow over rate. He took 2/33 but Inzamam, returning from suspension, superbly anchored the chase building on a blistering start from Shahid Afridi and Ijaz Ahmed.

Ganguly's aggregate for the series was 222 runs. Before the series he had just one ODI wicket, but the Toronto pitches were tailor-made for his bowling and he nabbed 15 wickets and the Player of the Series honour.

This was Sachin's biggest win as a captain since the Titan Cup victory featuring Australia and South Africa. Ramiz Raza was immediately sacked as both teams traveled to Pakistan for a short 3-match Wills Challenge Series to celebrate the golden jubilee of Independence. Saeed Anwar captained them to a 2-1 victory over India who were touring Pakistan for the first time since 1989-90.

India 250/5 | Sourav Ganguly 96, Azhar Mahmood 2/27

Pakistan 251/5 (41.5 overs) | Inzamam-ul-Haq 71*, Sourav Ganguly 2/33

India won by 34 runs | Player of the Match : Sourav Ganguly

Player of the series : Sourav Ganguly

This is part two of the series - Sahara Cup : Toronto Diaries. Read part I here.