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.
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