Leading Indian company keen to revive Sahara Cup with Pakistan

ChthonicPowers · November 6, 2003, 7:24am

KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has received a proposal from a leading Indian conglomerate to revive the Indo-Pak series in Toronto, Canada which became famous as the “Sahara Cup” between 1996 and ‘99.

‘The News’ has been told by a reliable source in the board that on his recent visit to Mumbai, chief executive Rameez Raja was given a proposal by a leading Indian company which said it was interested in completely sponsoring the revival of Indo-Pak matches in any part of North America next year on the lines of the Sahara Cup.

The Sahara Cup was the brainchild of Trans World International (TWI) which prevailed upon the Pakistan and Indian cricket boards to have an annual series of five matches in Toronto, Canada.

TWI agreed to pay a guarantee appearance fees of around $500,000 each to the two boards in lieu of having total sponsorship and telecasting rights for the series and accordingly sold the title rights to Indian conglomerate Sahara.

The series was discontinued in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict when the Indian government refused to permit its team to play Pakistan in any bilateral series anywhere.

The source said that the Indian company had approached Rameez in the wake of the growing chances of India and Pakistan cricket ties being revived with
the tour by the Indian team to Pakistan next year in March-April.

“The Indian company has already said it would be willing to pay a guarantee sum of up to half a million dollars each to the two boards for the complete rights of the series,” the source said.

Good news for the cricket lovers in North America. Lets hope the series materialises and we all get to see some good cricket. :k: