The Sahara Cup, India-Pakistan's Biggest Neutral Contest, Ended Because Of The Kargil War

July 26, 1999. India defeated Pakistan to emerge victorious in the Kargil War. After over 2 months of fighting, we had successfully sent the infiltrators back over the LoC. But one thing was for certain, the relationship between the two countries was badly damaged and when one considers how things were getting better over the last couple of years, this was a backward step for certain.

PTI

Indo-Pak cricket was one of the casualties. Only 6 months ago, Pakistan came to India to play a Test after 12 years, and now the hope of a future bilateral series had gone down the drain. The first impact felt was when the Government refused to allow the team to play Pakistan in the Sahara Cup in Toronto, Canada.

The Sahara Cup is the most awaited Indo-Pak series on neutral soil. Pakistan had won the last edition in 1998 and India this time were opting out. Instead 2 3-match series were played. India beat West Indies 2-1 and then Pakistan crushed West Indies 3-0. In fact since then and now, we have never had a Sahara Cup.

Reuters

India and Pakistan did meet during the World Cup while the war was going on. But the next meeting came over 7 months later in January 2000 in Australia. Bilateral series did not take place until 2004 when we won our first ODI and Test series in Pakistan.

The last time we engaged in a Test series was in 2007 and since 2013 we have not played a bilateral ODI series either. With further terrorist attacks in the last decade or so from across the border, the odds of bilateral ties to resume are less.

AFP

Till then, it's the World Cup, Asia Cup or Champions Trophy, not to mention the World T20 when we can see what the cricketing world knows as the Mother of All Battles.

The next time we play will be in the Asia Cup. The last time we played was in the T20 World Cup. As of now, the political situation does not look like it's going to get any better so the odds of a bilateral series are really less. A pity, for an India vs Pakistan series is a treat for the eyes.

Kargil was not an event to remember. One nation felt betrayed while another grossly miscalculated its objective. Be as it may, India triumphed over Pakistan and now it remains to be seen if we play each other more regularly at all. The Sahara Cup is no more an option so time to look at the possibility of playing Pakistan on neutral territory. Not impossible, but it will be a challenge, when and if it does come up as an alternative.