4 man of the match, 222 runs and 15 wickets in the 5 match series, Pakistanis kneeled down in front of an Indian ‘Dada’

New Delhi. In the history of cricket, the rivalry between India and Pakistan has always been at the peak of excitement, but in the year 1997, such a historic tournament was played on the grounds of Toronto (Canada), which is still remembered as ‘Sourav Ganguly vs Pakistan’. This was the ‘Sahara Cup’ where the future captain of Indian cricket and ‘Prince of Kolkata’ Sourav Ganguly, with his magical batting and sharp bowling, single-handedly forced the entire Pakistani team to kneel.

In the 1997 Sahara Cup, Sourav Ganguly gave such an incredible all-round performance with both ball and bat that the strong Pakistan team had no answer to him. This series showed the world that Sourav Ganguly is not only a brilliant batsman but also a great all-rounder who can change the game in times of crisis.

Fire came from the bat, created a wall of runs

In this 5-match ODI series, Sourav Ganguly became an incomprehensible puzzle for Pakistani bowlers. Ganguly completely destroyed the Pakistani attack which was adorned with veteran bowlers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq and Aaqib Javed. He batted brilliantly in the 5 matches of the series and scored the maximum of 222 runs. The skyscraper sixes from his bat and his trademark shots in the off-side won the hearts of the spectators present in Toronto. He was proving to be the backbone of the Indian innings in every match.

Wreaked havoc with the ball, took the most wickets

Ganguly’s real surprise package in the Sahara Cup 1997 was his medium pace bowling. On the green and supportive pitches of Toronto, Dada made the Pakistani batsmen stars with his seam and swing bowling during the day. Ganguly, who is generally known as a batsman, took the maximum of 15 wickets in this series, leaving behind the main bowlers. In the third match of the series, he took 5 wickets for just 16 runs, which was his best bowling performance at that time. Pakistani batsmen were not able to read his swinging balls.

World record of ‘Man of the Match’ for 4 consecutive times

Sourav Ganguly’s dominance in this series was so much that he created a world record which no one has been able to break till date. Ganguly won the title of ‘Man of the Match’ in 4 consecutive matches of the 5-match series. Thanks to his amazing all-round game, India defeated Pakistan 4-1 in this series. After the end of the series, apart from Sourav Ganguly, no other contender was visible for the ‘Man of the Series’ award. The 1997 Sahara Cup was a turning point in Indian cricket history. It would not be wrong to say that in that tournament, Pakistan team lost not to India, but to the courage and class of ‘Dada’ alone.