Sahara Cup 1996: Toronto Diaries (Part I)

The Sahara Cup was the trial of something new, if not radical. It began promisingly as a 5-year deal to play 5 matches every September from 1996-2000 between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with the International Management Group (IMG) with ESPN having the telecast rights.

The series was considerably hyped with the two arch-rivals meeting at a virgin and neutral venue. The frequency of Indo-Pak matches at Sharjah had gone down and with no full tours since 1989, the Sahara Cup, also labelled the Friendship series brought new context to the age-old rivalry. It certainly lived up to expectations in a memorable first edition.

As compared to the surfeit of matches played in the sub-continent, Canada was half-way around the world and further some, awaiting a debut. It was in a time-zone far removed from heat, bustle; far removed from the constantly crushing, scrutinizing media and countrymen. The month of September was selected as the weather is pleasant, with many sunny days and daylight hours. The matches were scheduled just as the summer gave way to the autumn - and the maple trees start to turn a beautiful shade of auburn.

Post the 1996 World Cup, Mohd. Azharuddin, despite on shaky grounds was retained as the skipper for the Singer Cup in Singapore and the Pepsi Cup in Sharjah, played in April. The doomed tour of England though spelt the death knell of his captaincy. Concurrently, Sachin Tendulkar was coming off the back of a stellar World Cup and had signed a million dollar bat deal with MRF brokered by his friend and manager - Mark Mascarenhas.

The youngest captain to lead India in ODIs, aged 23

For his string of against the odds hundreds, the chief of the selection committee - batting legend GR Vishwanath appointed him as the captain for the Singer World Series quadrangular (Zimbabwe, Australia, India and the hosts Sri Lanka) and the Sahara Cup one-day series against Pakistan in September. Sri Lanka played and won like newly crowned World Champions at home and facing Pakistan in Canada was another challenging task on hand.

India was heavily dependent on a few individuals, least of all Tendulkar who was entering his second assignment as skipper in Toronto. On the other hand, Pakistan looked the more settled and mercurial side with Wasim Akram captaining. India were in a constant state of chop and change but with promising youngsters in Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, they hoped to rebuild around a core nucleus of talent.

Here's a roundup of the inaugural series in 1996.

Match 1 | September 16, 1996

Hurricane Fran had washed out the first weekend matches and the first encounter had to be shifted to Monday, which was again curtailed to 33 overs a side. Pakistan scored at a fast clip to set a target of 171, which was revised by the Duckworth-Lewis method to chased be down by India in 31 overs. Sachin Tendulkar played a run-a-ball, unbeaten 89 to notch up a convincing win over Pakistan who had a much vaunted bowling line-up of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Azhar Mahmood and Saqlain Mushtaq.

Pakistan 170/9 (33) | Saaed Anwar 46, J Srinath 3/23

India 173/2 (29.5) | Sachin Tendulkar 89*, Waqar Younis 1/30

India won by 8 wickets | Player of the Match Sachin Tendulkar

Match 2 | September 17, 1996

Rahul Dravid, square cutting Mushtaq Ahmed here, top scored with a classy 90

Rain caused the match originally scheduled for the 15th September to be played on the 17th September. Pakistan got back into the series by snatching a last over victory in what was quite easily the match of the series. Watch the highlights here:

India 264/6 (50) | Rahul Dravid 90, Saqlain Mushtaq 2/39

Pakistan 266/8 (49.5) | Saeed Anwar 80, J Srinath 2/53

Pakistan won by 2 wickets | Player of the Match Saleem Malik

Match 3 | September 17, 1996

Ajay Jadeja is castled by a zinging Wasim Akram yorker

Back-to-back one day games were not uncommon in the 90s, but the Sahara Cup now had 3 matches on consecutive days. The pitch, therefore, was mildly under prepared which made batting difficult. Rahul Dravid painstakingly made 46 off 93 balls and later on, Pakistan made a meal of a sub-par total.

India 191 all out | Rahul Dravid 46, Wasim Akram 4/35

Pakistan 136 all out | Moin Khan 42, Anil Kumble 4/12

India won by 55 runs | Player of the Match: Rahul Dravid

Match 4 | September 21, 1996

Vinod Kambli is short of the crease as Moin Khan rips off the bails from an Ijaz Ahmed throw

The only weekend game of the series naturally saw the best attendance comprising mainly Indian and Pakistani expatriates of Toronto. Wasim Akram had noticed that the Indian skipper had a tendency to hit uppishly towards extra cover. He placed a close-in fielder short at extra cover and got Sachin out for the second time in 2 matches in an identical way in Match 3 and 4.

Pakistan 258/8 | Ijaz Ahmed 90, Anil Kumble 2/36

India 161 all out | Ajay Jadeja 47, Wasim Akram 2/11

Pakistan won by 97 runs | Player of the Match: Ijaz Ahmed

Match 5 | September 23, 1996

Mushtaq Ahmed is ecstatic after nabbing Azhar

en route

to his 5-for in the deciding game

The stage was set for a blockbuster weekend, but the heavens opened up again. Fans who had come from New York returned disappointed as the decider was postponed to a Monday - the schedule going for a toss because of the hurricane.

Pakistan, having already come back twice from behind, went on to win the match and clinch the series after setting a competitive 214. The Pakistanis brilliantly used the pitch which did not allow the ball to come on to the bat. None of the batsmen from either side could reach 50 in either of the two innings. Leggie Mushtaq Ahmed nabbed the first fifer of the series as India folded for exactly 161 in consecutive matches.

Despite losing a marquee series, the new BCCI selection committee decided to back their new captain and build for the next World Cup scheduled in the UK and Netherlands in the summer of 1999. All the matches were played in good spirit without losing the edge that an Indo-Pak match brings. "After all, it's a game" commented the victorious Wasim Akram at the trophy presentation.

Pakistan 213/9 | Aamir Sohail 44, Anil Kumble 3/47

India 161 all out | Sachin Tendulkar 23, Mushtaq Ahmed 5/36

Pakistan won by 52 runs | Player of the Match: Mushtaq Ahmed

Player of the series: Anil Kumble (15 wickets)

This is the first part of a 3-part series on Sahara Cup.