It was called Friendship series. In 1997, Sourav Ganguly did not believe in friendship though. He decimated Pakistan in the ODI series. Scoring the maximum runs in the tournament, Ganguly also secured the highest number of wickets on either side. Best bowling average of 10.66 and second-best batting average of 55.5, Ganguly was just one step ahead of his opposition.
Sachin Tendulkar was the captain now, even though the team had Azharuddin. Javagal Srinath was recuperating from injury while Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble were rested. The Indian bowling looked new and raw - Debashis Mohanty, Harvinder Singh and Abey Kuruvilla. The team also had Robin Singh as the batting allrounder who was more than handful on these conditions and of course Sourav Ganguly. Rajesh Chauhan and Nilesh Kulkarni were the main spinners in the Indian team.
India won two matches by chasing the target (seven and seven wickets respectively) while two matches were won by setting a target that was 20 and 34 runs more than the Pakistan team. The focus was on the senior players to lead the team to victory with such an inexperienced bowling attack. The Indian team had lost the previous edition of Friendship Cup and were expected to take revenge.
Never had one Indian player dominated a five match series in the way Ganguly did at Toronto. His performances in each match were dominating
Sachin Tendulkar was the captain now, even though the team had Azharuddin. Javagal Srinath was recuperating from injury while Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble were rested. The Indian bowling looked new and raw - Debashis Mohanty, Harvinder Singh and Abey Kuruvilla. The team also had Robin Singh as the batting allrounder who was more than handful on these conditions and of course Sourav Ganguly. Rajesh Chauhan and Nilesh Kulkarni were the main spinners in the Indian team.
India won two matches by chasing the target (seven and seven wickets respectively) while two matches were won by setting a target that was 20 and 34 runs more than the Pakistan team. The focus was on the senior players to lead the team to victory with such an inexperienced bowling attack. The Indian team had lost the previous edition of Friendship Cup and were expected to take revenge.
Never had one Indian player dominated a five match series in the way Ganguly did at Toronto. His performances in each match were dominating
- First ODI - 17 and 2-27 of seven overs
- Second ODI - 2-16 of nine overs and 32
- Third ODI - 2 and 5-16 of ten overs
- Fourth ODI - 2-29 of six overs and 75 not out
- Fifth ODI - 96 and 2-33 of nine overs
Except the first match, Ganguly was the Man of the Match in all and deservedly the Man of Series as well. Sourav's swing bowling was at right most of the time, especially in the third match when he took five wickets while bowling second. The Indians were runaway winners thanks to surprise weapon of Sachin Tendulkar - Sourav Ganguly's swing bowling.
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