The last time Pakistan played international cricket in Canada was in 1999 when they squared off against the West Indies, albeit in rather confusing circumstances. Let’s revisit that series in the first ever article of our Nostalgic Diaries series.
THE BACKGROUND
The rise of Sharjah in the nineties had prompted talks of staging cricket in other neutral venues with sizable cricket-following populations, and the Sahara Cup was born in Canada in 1996. Pakistan and India were pitted against each other in a five match ODI series in Toronto which, as per an agreement between the two boards, was to take place every September for five years. The matches were to be played at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club which had a capacity of about 5000 people.
The series took place without any major hiccups in its first three years and garnered considerable interest. Pakistan emerged victorious in 1996 and 1998 while India came out on top in 1997. But by the time the 1999 edition came about, worsening diplomatic ties between the two Asian giants, notably due to the Kargil conflict, meant the series had to be called off. As a stop-gap arrangement, Brian Lara’s West Indies were invited to play both Pakistan and India in two separate series of three matches each. India’s matches were renamed the DMC Cup while those of Pakistan were renamed the DMC trophy.
THE CONTEST
Pakistan’s three matches were squeezed inside four days but that did not deter Wasim Akram’s men from putting on an impressive performance and clean sweeping the series 3-0 (India had earlier won their leg 2-1). Saeed Anwar and Wajahat Wasti put on 131 in 29 overs (snail’s pace by today’s standards!) in the first match as Pakistan batted first and won a close contest by 15 runs. A familiar batting collapse saw the team tottering at 68-4 in the second match, before a sublime Yousuf century and relentless bowling by spinners Saqlain and Arshad Khan towards the end of the West Indian chase saw Pakistan home.
With the series secured, the final match saw Pakistan handing a debut to young Shabbir Ahmed. Shoaib Akhtar had already established himself on the world stage during the ODI World Cup earlier that year, and while he sat out this series due to injury, Shabbir was being touted as the next big thing to come out of the country’s fast bowling ranks. He mixed big wides with swinging yorkers and picked up three wickets, including Chris Gayle – who was also playing in his debut series – for a duck. West Indies folded for a below-par 161 while batting first and Pakistan comfortably won by seven wickets.
Young Shabbir mixed big wides with swinging yorkers and picked up three wickets, including Chris Gayle for a golden duck.
THE CONTEXT
1999 was arguably Pakistan team’s best year from that era. The team had rallied around captain Wasim Akram and put in many memorable performances. They beat India in India, became Asian test champions and won twice in Sharjah. And while they crashed and burned at Lord’s against Australia, they produced stellar performances during their run to the ODI world cup final. This 3-0 thumping of West Indies was another feather in their cap.
Alas, things began to go south from there, as later that year, the team was thumped by Australia down under and Wasim was removed from captaincy. More importantly, Shabbir Ahmed was never able to fulfill his potential and questions around his action continued to surface throughout his chequered career. He played his last international in 2007.
