1996-97 SAARC Quadrangular
Encyclopedia
The 3rd and final SAARC Quadrangular was held in Dhaka in Feb. 1997. The Pakistan 'A' team, led by Asif Mujtaba
Asif Mujtaba
Mohammad Asif Mujtaba is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 25 Tests and 66 ODIs from 1986 to 1997. He is best known for hitting a Steve Waugh full toss on the last ball in an ODI at Hobart in 1992-93 for six, when Pakistan needed 7 runs to win, thereby tying the match...

, won the trophy after beating India 'A' in a rain affected final.

The teams

For the 1st time Pakistan & Sri Lanka took the tournament seriously, and send strong teams. Asif Mujtaba
Asif Mujtaba
Mohammad Asif Mujtaba is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 25 Tests and 66 ODIs from 1986 to 1997. He is best known for hitting a Steve Waugh full toss on the last ball in an ODI at Hobart in 1992-93 for six, when Pakistan needed 7 runs to win, thereby tying the match...

, the Pak captain, led from the front, and finished as the Player of the Tournament. He was helped in the batting department by Basit Ali
Basit Ali
Basit Ali is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 19 Tests and 50 ODIs from 1993 to 1996. He was recognized by many to have a similar batting style as Javed Miandad. A right-hander, he has the relatively uncommon statistic of having a higher ODI than Test batting average...

 & Akhtar Sarfraz
Akhtar Sarfraz
Akhtar Sarfraz is a Pakistani cricketer who played five ODIs between 1997 to 1998.- References :...

. The bowling attack was led by Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Zahid is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. Zahid is the first Pakistani cricketer to take ten wickets on his debut, scoring an eleven-wicket two-innings haul against New Zealand.-Career:Having suffered a back injury and subsequently having to...

, arguably the fastest bowler at the time. While he struggled with no balls & wides, he still generated lot of pace from the slow wickets, and was a constant menace to the opposition batsmen. medium pacer Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood Sagar is a Pakistani cricketer, . Originally his father objected to his interest in cricket, but later started to appreciate it seeing his accomplishments. As a teenager, Azhar was mentored by Irfan Bhatti who played a One Day International for Pakistan in the early 90’s...

 came good in the final.

The Indian team, (led by Amay Khurasiya
Amay Khurasiya
Amay Khurasiya is a former Indian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm bowler.- Career :...

, failed to perform up to expectation. In the group mathc, they were badly beaten by Pak 'A', as the Indian batting collpased badly. Only the makeshift opener MSK Prasad batted bravely to carry his bat thorough the innings for 56. The next highest score was by Mr. Extra (48). India, However, can consider them a bit unlucky in the final, as they were still in the game (with in form S. Sarath & MSK Prasad at the wicket) when rain intervened, and calculators were used to determien the cahmpions. Indian medium pacer, Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh is a former Indian cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 16 ODIs from 1997 to 2001....

 was the top bowler of the tournament with 12 wickets.
Sri Lanka achieved their first (and only) victory in SAARC Quadrangular history by beating Bangladesh by 5 wickets. Naveed Nawaz
Naveed Nawaz
Mohamed Naveed Nawaz, born September 20, 1973 in Colombo, is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a legbreak bowler and has played both Test cricket and One-Day Internationals for the Sri Lankan national side....

 & Ruwan Kalpage
Ruwan Kalpage
Ruwan Kalpage is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler....

 batted consistently for the Lankans.

Although the local side (Coached by WI legend Gordon Greenidge
Gordon Greenidge
Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge MBE is a former member of the West Indies cricket team.Greenidge was an opening batsman for the West Indies. He began his Test career against India at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in 1974 and continued playing internationally until 1991. He was half of the West...

) lost all their 3 games, there wss no disgrace as all the oppositions were much stronger. The batting looked good, the skipper Akram Khan
Akram Khan (cricketer)
Mohammad Akram Hussain Khan , known as Akram Khan, is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 8 Tests and 44 ODIs from 1988 to 2003. He captained Bangladesh in 15 of his ODIs. A hard hitting middle order batsman, Akram played first class cricket for Chittagong Division.Akram Khan was part of...

, his deputy Aminul Islam
Aminul Islam
Aminul Islam Bulbul is a Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 13 Tests and 39 ODIs from 1988 to 2002.Aminul scored the first hundred for the Bangladesh cricket team when Bangladesh played their first Test against India...

, the veteran Minhajul Abedin
Minhajul Abedin
Minhajul Abedin is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 27 ODIs from 1986 to 1999. He captained Bangladesh twice during the Asia Cup of 1990–91. In local cricket arena he is more commonly known by his nickname, "Nannu".-Early days:Nannu caught the attention of the cricket selectors in the...

 & the youngster Sanwar Hossain
Sanwar Hossain
Sanwar Hossain is a Bangladeshi cricketer.-External links:*...

 all warmed up well for the upcoming ICC trophy
1997 ICC Trophy
The Carlsberg 1997 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in March/April 1997. It was the qualification tournament for the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Kenya and for the first time Bangladesh and Scotland all Qualified.-First round:...

 with a half century each. The bowling, however, looked completely harmless. Anisur Rahman
Anisur Rahman
Anisur Rahman is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 2 ODIs from 1995 to 1998.-The early days:The tall left armer was a big success with the ball in the U-19 Asia cup in 1989. There he took 3/44 against India, and 3/36 against Pakistan.Impressed by his performances, the selectors quickly...

 who did so much damage with the reverse swing in 1994-95 failed to make any impact this time.

Scores in Brief

Date Match Result
Feb. 19 Bangladesh Vs v Pakistan 'A' Bangladesh 182/9 ( 43 extras, Hasibul Hossain
Hasibul Hossain
Mohammad Hasibul Hossain , known as Hasibul Hossain, played five Tests and 32 one-day internationals for Bangladesh....

 42*, Kabir Khan 3/29)
Pakistan'A' 186/4 (Asif Mujtaba
Asif Mujtaba
Mohammad Asif Mujtaba is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 25 Tests and 66 ODIs from 1986 to 1997. He is best known for hitting a Steve Waugh full toss on the last ball in an ODI at Hobart in 1992-93 for six, when Pakistan needed 7 runs to win, thereby tying the match...

 67, Mohammad Wasim
Mohammad Wasim
Mohammad Wasim is a Pakistani cricketer who played in 18 Tests and 25 ODIs from 1996 to 2000.-Career:...

 42)
Pakistan 'A' wins by 6 wickets
Feb. 20 India 'A' Vs v Sri Lanka 'A'
Match abondoend due to bad weather
Feb. 22 Bangladesh Vs v Sri Lanka 'A' Bangladesh 220/9 (Sanwar Hossain
Sanwar Hossain
Sanwar Hossain is a Bangladeshi cricketer.-External links:*...

 76, Akram Khan
Akram Khan (cricketer)
Mohammad Akram Hussain Khan , known as Akram Khan, is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 8 Tests and 44 ODIs from 1988 to 2003. He captained Bangladesh in 15 of his ODIs. A hard hitting middle order batsman, Akram played first class cricket for Chittagong Division.Akram Khan was part of...

 54, Dulip Liyanage
Dulip Liyanage
Dulip Kapila Liyanage is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler....

 4/42)
Sri Lanka'A' 222/5(Naveed Nawaz
Naveed Nawaz
Mohamed Naveed Nawaz, born September 20, 1973 in Colombo, is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a legbreak bowler and has played both Test cricket and One-Day Internationals for the Sri Lankan national side....

 88)
Sri Lanka 'A' wins by 5 wickets
Feb. 23 India 'A' Vs v Pakistan 'A' Pakistan 'A' 232/9 (Basit Ali
Basit Ali
Basit Ali is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 19 Tests and 50 ODIs from 1993 to 1996. He was recognized by many to have a similar batting style as Javed Miandad. A right-hander, he has the relatively uncommon statistic of having a higher ODI than Test batting average...

 67, Mohammad Hussain
Mohammad Hussain
Mohammad Hussain is a Pakistani cricketer who played in 2 Tests and 14 ODIs from 1996 to 1998....

 51, Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh is a former Indian cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 16 ODIs from 1997 to 2001....

 6/43)
India 'A' 164 (MSK Prasad 56*, Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Zahid is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. Zahid is the first Pakistani cricketer to take ten wickets on his debut, scoring an eleven-wicket two-innings haul against New Zealand.-Career:Having suffered a back injury and subsequently having to...

 3/36)
Pakistan 'A' wins by 68 runs
Feb. 25 Pakistan 'A' Vs v Sri Lanka 'A' Sri Lanka 'A' 130 Ruwan Kalpage
Ruwan Kalpage
Ruwan Kalpage is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler....

 54, Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed is a Pakistani cricketer and coach. He was a right-handed medium-fast pace bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways. He played 22 Tests and 163 One Day Internationals for Pakistan between 1988 and 1998.He was educated at Islamia College Lahore.Aaqib's best performances in...

4/17)
Pakistan'A' 132/9 (Akhtar Sarfraz
Akhtar Sarfraz
Akhtar Sarfraz is a Pakistani cricketer who played five ODIs between 1997 to 1998.- References :...

 64*, Ranjith 3/27)
Pakistan 'A' wins by 1 wicket
Feb. 26 Bangladesh Vs v India 'A' Bangladesh 235/7 (Aminul Islam
Aminul Islam
Aminul Islam Bulbul is a Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 13 Tests and 39 ODIs from 1988 to 2002.Aminul scored the first hundred for the Bangladesh cricket team when Bangladesh played their first Test against India...

 78, Minhajul Abedin
Minhajul Abedin
Minhajul Abedin is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 27 ODIs from 1986 to 1999. He captained Bangladesh twice during the Asia Cup of 1990–91. In local cricket arena he is more commonly known by his nickname, "Nannu".-Early days:Nannu caught the attention of the cricket selectors in the...

 53, harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh is a former Indian cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 16 ODIs from 1997 to 2001....

 4/44)
India 'A' 236/3 (S. Sarath 64*, Gagan Khoda
Gagan Khoda
Gagan Khoda is a former Indian cricketer. He played two One Day Internationals in 1998. Despite scoring 89 runs in one of those two innings, he never made it to the Indian team after those two matches....

 63)
India 'A' wins by 7 wickets
28 February Pakistan 'A' Vs India 'A' (Final) Pakistan 'A' 199 (Asif Mujtaba
Asif Mujtaba
Mohammad Asif Mujtaba is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 25 Tests and 66 ODIs from 1986 to 1997. He is best known for hitting a Steve Waugh full toss on the last ball in an ODI at Hobart in 1992-93 for six, when Pakistan needed 7 runs to win, thereby tying the match...

 91, Noel David
Noel David
Noel Arthur David is a former Indian cricketer. He played domestic cricket for Hyderabad and played four One Day Internationals for India in 1997....

 3/32
India 'A' 124/5 (31 overs), (S. Sarath 35*, Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood Sagar is a Pakistani cricketer, . Originally his father objected to his interest in cricket, but later started to appreciate it seeing his accomplishments. As a teenager, Azhar was mentored by Irfan Bhatti who played a One Day International for Pakistan in the early 90’s...

 3/30)
Pakistan 'A' wins by 38 runs(Parabola Method)

The Final

Despite the fact that the local side had been eliminated, a strong holiday crowd gathered to watch the final between the two traditional rivals of the region. They saw plenty of good cricket, but unfortunately late afternoon rain spoiled an exciting finish. The Pak side won the toss and decided to bat first. The Indian new ball bowlers Debashish Mohanty
Debashish Mohanty
Debasish Sarbeswar Mohanty is a former Indian cricketer who played in 2 Tests and 45 ODIs from 1997 to 2001. He was a right-arm medium-fast bowler who coupled pace to his naturally lanky frame...

 & Arindam Sarkar struck early blows to leave the opposition struggling at 29/2. The Pak captain started the recovery sharing 41 for the 3rd wicket with Akhtar Sarfraz
Akhtar Sarfraz
Akhtar Sarfraz is a Pakistani cricketer who played five ODIs between 1997 to 1998.- References :...

 (31). The Pak captin went on to score 91, but he goot little support from the middle order. Only Mujahid Jamshed
Mujahid Jamshed
Mujahid Jamshed is a former Pakistani cricketer who played four ODIs in 1997. A right-handed middle-order batsman, he was called into the squad and made his debut during the 1996/97 ODI triangular tournament in Australia....

 with 26 stood firm. Pakistan lost their last 6 wickets for only 62 runs as off spinner Noel David
Noel David
Noel Arthur David is a former Indian cricketer. He played domestic cricket for Hyderabad and played four One Day Internationals for India in 1997....

 & the most successful bowler of the Tournamnet Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh is a former Indian cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 16 ODIs from 1997 to 2001....

 destroyed the lower oorder. The Paks batted for only 43.2 overs.

In reply, the India 'A' got off to a solid start, as their opening pair of Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right arm off-break bowler.-Early years:...

 & Gagan Khoda
Gagan Khoda
Gagan Khoda is a former Indian cricketer. He played two One Day Internationals in 1998. Despite scoring 89 runs in one of those two innings, he never made it to the Indian team after those two matches....

 defied the new ball attack of Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed is a Pakistani cricketer and coach. He was a right-handed medium-fast pace bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways. He played 22 Tests and 163 One Day Internationals for Pakistan between 1988 and 1998.He was educated at Islamia College Lahore.Aaqib's best performances in...

 & Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Zahid is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. Zahid is the first Pakistani cricketer to take ten wickets on his debut, scoring an eleven-wicket two-innings haul against New Zealand.-Career:Having suffered a back injury and subsequently having to...

. The openrers, However, failed to convert starts into scores. The skipper, Amay Khurasiya
Amay Khurasiya
Amay Khurasiya is a former Indian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm bowler.- Career :...

, batting at No. 3, made 27, but the introduction of Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood Sagar is a Pakistani cricketer, . Originally his father objected to his interest in cricket, but later started to appreciate it seeing his accomplishments. As a teenager, Azhar was mentored by Irfan Bhatti who played a One Day International for Pakistan in the early 90’s...

 into the bowling changed the course of the game. Fromn 69/1, India 'A' slumped to 112/5. The run out of Sairaj Bahutule
Sairaj Bahutule
Sairaj Bahutule is an Indian cricketer. He is an allrounder who specializes in leg spin bowling....

 didn't help their. Still they faniced their chances with S. Sarath at the wicket. But the weather had the last say, and according to the Parabola method, Pakistan'A' were declared the winners. Asif Mujtaba
Asif Mujtaba
Mohammad Asif Mujtaba is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 25 Tests and 66 ODIs from 1986 to 1997. He is best known for hitting a Steve Waugh full toss on the last ball in an ODI at Hobart in 1992-93 for six, when Pakistan needed 7 runs to win, thereby tying the match...

 was adjudged the player of the Final.

Top Batsmen of the Tournament (80 or more runs)

Name Matches Runs Average Highest Score 50
S. Sarath (Ind) 3 99 99.00 64* 1
Ruwan Kalpage
Ruwan Kalpage
Ruwan Kalpage is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. He was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler....

 (SL)
2 85 85.00 54 1
Naveed Nawaz
Naveed Nawaz
Mohamed Naveed Nawaz, born September 20, 1973 in Colombo, is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a legbreak bowler and has played both Test cricket and One-Day Internationals for the Sri Lankan national side....

 (SL)
2 94 47.00 88 1
Basit Ali
Basit Ali
Basit Ali is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 19 Tests and 50 ODIs from 1993 to 1996. He was recognized by many to have a similar batting style as Javed Miandad. A right-hander, he has the relatively uncommon statistic of having a higher ODI than Test batting average...

 (Pak)
3 90 45.00 67 1
Asif Mujtaba
Asif Mujtaba
Mohammad Asif Mujtaba is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 25 Tests and 66 ODIs from 1986 to 1997. He is best known for hitting a Steve Waugh full toss on the last ball in an ODI at Hobart in 1992-93 for six, when Pakistan needed 7 runs to win, thereby tying the match...

 (Pak)
4 179 44.75 91 2
Sanwar Hossain
Sanwar Hossain
Sanwar Hossain is a Bangladeshi cricketer.-External links:*...

 (Ban)
2 89 44.50 76 1
Akhtar Sarfraz
Akhtar Sarfraz
Akhtar Sarfraz is a Pakistani cricketer who played five ODIs between 1997 to 1998.- References :...

 (Pak)
4 133 44.33 64* 1
Aminul Islam
Aminul Islam
Aminul Islam Bulbul is a Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 13 Tests and 39 ODIs from 1988 to 2002.Aminul scored the first hundred for the Bangladesh cricket team when Bangladesh played their first Test against India...

 (Ban)
2 83 41.50 78 1
Akram Khan
Akram Khan (cricketer)
Mohammad Akram Hussain Khan , known as Akram Khan, is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 8 Tests and 44 ODIs from 1988 to 2003. He captained Bangladesh in 15 of his ODIs. A hard hitting middle order batsman, Akram played first class cricket for Chittagong Division.Akram Khan was part of...

 (Ban)
3 87 29.00 54 1

Note:The Bangladesh middle order batsman Minhajul Abedin
Minhajul Abedin
Minhajul Abedin is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 27 ODIs from 1986 to 1999. He captained Bangladesh twice during the Asia Cup of 1990–91. In local cricket arena he is more commonly known by his nickname, "Nannu".-Early days:Nannu caught the attention of the cricket selectors in the...

 played in only one game, and scored 53, thus finishing with an average of 53.00

Top Bowlers of the Tournament (5 or more wickets)

Name Matches Runs Wickets Average Best
Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh
Harvinder Singh is a former Indian cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 16 ODIs from 1997 to 2001....

 (Ind)
3 131 12 10.91 6/43
Dulip Liyanage
Dulip Liyanage
Dulip Kapila Liyanage is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler....

 (SL)
2 64 5 12.80 4/42
Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed is a Pakistani cricketer and coach. He was a right-handed medium-fast pace bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways. He played 22 Tests and 163 One Day Internationals for Pakistan between 1988 and 1998.He was educated at Islamia College Lahore.Aaqib's best performances in...

 (Pak)
4 91 6 15.16 4/17
Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Zahid
Mohammad Zahid is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. Zahid is the first Pakistani cricketer to take ten wickets on his debut, scoring an eleven-wicket two-innings haul against New Zealand.-Career:Having suffered a back injury and subsequently having to...

 (Pak)
3 107 6 17.83 3/36
Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood
Azhar Mahmood Sagar is a Pakistani cricketer, . Originally his father objected to his interest in cricket, but later started to appreciate it seeing his accomplishments. As a teenager, Azhar was mentored by Irfan Bhatti who played a One Day International for Pakistan in the early 90’s...

 (Pak)
4 96 5 19.20 3/30
Mohammad Hussain
Mohammad Hussain
Mohammad Hussain is a Pakistani cricketer who played in 2 Tests and 14 ODIs from 1996 to 1998....

 (Pak)
4 97 5 19.40 2/11

Top All-Rounder of the Tournament

  Batting Bowling
Name Matches Runs Average Highest Score 50 Runs Wickets Average Best
Mohammad Hussain
Mohammad Hussain
Mohammad Hussain is a Pakistani cricketer who played in 2 Tests and 14 ODIs from 1996 to 1998....

(Pak)
4 76 25.33 51 1 97 5 19.40 2/11

External links

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