Sahara Cup 1998 : Toronto Diaries (Part III)

The third Sahara Cup came in with a lot of contexts. An ad-hoc, dramatic 2-hour meeting of the five-member BCCI selection committee was called in Bombay, headed by former Test fast bowler Ramakant Desai on January 2, 1998.

The selectors lost their patience with Tendulkar after India had just 10 victories in 39 ODIs in 1997, 4 of which were in Toronto. 1998 was to be Sachin's miracle year but it started off with him getting unceremoniously sacked from the Indian captaincy.

Desai explaining that the selectors wanted to free up Sachin of any burden said: "We removed him because he could not take the pressure of both batting and captaincy."

This was a time when the ICC had not formalised a Future Tours Programme (FTP) and it was up to the cricket boards to arrange and schedule tours. One-dayers being the cash cow, the sub-continental teams were playing one series after the another and there were growing suspicions among the cricketing circles of match-fixing.

Despite rumours that an interim report by the Pakistan Cricket Board had found several players guilty of match-fixing, the issue was brushed under the carpet. Pakistan went with a third new captain for the Sahara Cup in Aamir Sohail.

In September 1998, it so happened that the climax of the County Championships in England, the Sahara Cup and the Commonwealth Games in Jakarta overlapped. Both countries were contesting the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, even though the matches were only given List A status.

Despite sending its A team to Malaysia, Pakistan fielded a very strong side to regain the marquee series. The BCCI was of the opinion to send strong squads to land a Commonwealth Medal as well as win the series in Toronto.

Thus, Ajay Jadeja, Anil Kumble, Robin Singh and Sachin Tendulkar along with India A players were off to the Commonwealth Games. The side crashed out in the group stages after losing to a full-strength Australian outfit.

India never had the bench strength to compete on two fronts and the depleted Indian side in Toronto led by Mohd. Azharuddin messed up the plot and lost, in what was to be the last Sahara Cup.

The largely Indo-Pak expatriate crowd in Toronto with some West Indians and Sri Lankans for company

The Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Ground was not an international level ground. In fact, it was hardly one; with its white bleacher stands and make-shift arrangements, it was just about better than an English University ground, suddenly brought to fame by being the battlefield for Pakistan-India matches.

But it provided a calm setting and a perennial gentle breeze. Plus the pitches were such a mystery to read that captains were actually glad to lose the toss so that the other one had to make a choice and make things easier.

All through the three years, the Sahara Cup was played with a friendly vibe among the players, as evidenced by this friendly banter between Azharuddin and Shahid Afridi.

Here's a roundup of the final Sahara Cup, a tournament that was covered globally and a bonafide hit that deserved more seasons:

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MATCH 1 | September 12, 1998

Overnight rain had induced a delayed start and plenty of moisture in the surface for Sourav Ganguly to help the Indians restrict Pakistan to a modest 189/9.

Opening the batting with Navjot Sidhu, he retired hurt once at 10 but came back to knock an unbeaten 54 and overhaul the target with overs to spare. The injury sustained in the match kept him out of the next, and he never scaled the heights of his form that blew Pakistan away in 1997.

Pakistan 189/9 | Saleem Malik 41, Sourav Ganguly 2/33

India 193/4 | Sourav Ganguly 54*, Mohammad Zahid 1/38

India won by 6 wickets | Player of the Match : Sourav Ganguly

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

MATCH 2 | September 13, 1998

Moin Khan appealing for a run-out decision to the third umpire

Captain Aamir Sohail had dropped himself to play one-down to let Shahid Afridi open with Saeed Anwar as he was consistently giving quick starts and momentum at the top of the Pakistani innings. Having set a competitive 247 target, they used the 4 all-rounders in their side to restrict an uninspired India to 195 for a comprehensive win and thus squared the series.

Pakistan 246/9 | Moin Khan 69, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 2/22

India 195 all out | Nayan Mongia 41, Saleem Malik 4/36

Pakistan won by 51 runs | Player of the Match: Moin Khan

MATCH 3 | September 16, 1998

Rahul Dravid tumbles as he fields near the boundary

Saqlain Mushtaq flew in from England and joined the Pakistanis. He had become the de-facto death bowler for them with his sharp off-breaks, sly top spinner and one-of-a-kind doosra. Although Wasim Akram was still with his county- Lancashire in Old Trafford, Pakistan had the look of a very strong team.

Slogans were held up to protest nuclear testing by both nations

Pakistan were powered to a competitive total with the help of a power-packed innings by Inzamam-ul-Haq, who top scored with 81. Chasing a stiff 258 to take a lead in the series, India were bundled out for 180, with none of the batsmen scoring a fifty.

Pakistan 257/5| Inzamam-ul-Haq 81, Ajit Agarkar 2/59

India 180 all out| Javagal Srinath 43, Mohammad Zahid 2/20

Pakistan won by 51 runs | Player of the Match: Inzamam-ul-Haq

By the end of the day, news had come in that India has crashed out of the Commonwealth Games and so too had Pakistan. India was desperate to fly in their key players from Malaysia while their opponents already had their best side in Canada.

MATCH 4 | September 19, 1998

Venkatesh Prasad appealing unsuccessfully for an lbw against Shahid Afridi

The Pakistan Cricket Board argued that only those named in the original Sahara Cup squad should be allowed to play and protested India's attempts. Eventually, Ajay Jadeja, weary from a long haul flight, played in the fourth game but he couldn't do much.

Pakistan registered the first 300+ score of the Sahara Cup on the back of a whirlwind, more than a run-a-ball 109 from Shahid Afridi, coincidentally the first ODI hundred scored in Toronto. Ganguly was carted around the ground for 62 runs off just 5 overs.

India crashed to a crushing loss and Pakistan regained the Sahara Cup.

Pakistan 316/6 | Shahid Afridi 109, Sunil Joshi 2/36

India 180 all out | Navjot Sidhu 62, Saqlain Mushtaq 3/20

Pakistan won by 134 runs | Player of the Match: Shahid Afridi

MATCH 5 | September 20, 1998

The victorious Pakistani side at the presentation ceremony

Mohd. Azharuddin won the fifth straight toss against Aamir Sohail but this time unlike the previous 4 occasions, chose to bat first.

With a century partnership with the returning Tendulkar (77), his stroke-filled hundred lifted India to a challenging scoring. Until this dead rubber, the Indian batting was brittle and anaemic, with only Ganguly and Sidhu having scored a fifty each.

Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail replied with a century partnership of their own and won the series 4-1, mirroring the scoreline of the 1997 series.

India 256/9 | Mohd. Azharuddin 101, Saqlain Mushtaq 4/67

Pakistan 258/5 | Aamir Sohail 97*, Javagal Srinath 3/50

Pakistan won by 5 wickets | Player of the Match: Aamir Sohail

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Inzamam-ul-Haq won the player of the series award for his consistent batting and an aggregate of 214 runs. And so, after 3 series and 15 games across 3 years, the rivalry was as tight as ever with the cumulative score of matches reading Pakistan 8-7 India.

Politics and cricket, are interlinked and any frostiness in diplomatic relation leads to thawing of cricketing ties. Sahara Cup bore the brunt of Kargil War, as the remaining editions of 1999 and 2000 couldn't take place.

The series was later called off after Sahara India, the sponsors, pulled out in the wake of the Pakistani intrusion in Kashmir in 1999. The diplomatic relations between the two countries considerably worsened and India suspended all cricketing ties with Pakistan from 2000, until 2004.

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