Pakistan to play 11 Tests, 25 one-dayers in 1997-98 (10 Sep 1997)

10 September 1997

Pakistan to play 11 Tests, 25 one-dayers in 1997-98

By Our Sports Reporter

KARACHI, Sept 9: Pakistan, in the forthcoming 1997-98 season, will play at least 25 one-day internationals besides 11 Test matches. The Test matches will be against South Africa (three), West Indies (three), South Africa (three) and Zimbabwe (two). The tally of one-day internationals may be increased to 33 if Pakistan play all the finals.

For the one-day internationals, Pakistan will go to Sharjah (Dec 11-19), Bangladesh (Jan 10-18), South Africa (April 3-22) besides playing a four-nation tournament here between Nov 1 and 8.

Pakistan's rivals in the golden jubilee tournament will be South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. The total cash purse at stake will be US$25,000 with the winner taking away US$15,000 and the losing finalist winning the remainder.

Pakistan will then face England, West Indies and India in Sharjah where the Sharjah Trophy will be played under lights for the first time. In connection with Bangladesh's silver jubilee, a tournament will be held in Dhaka and will be competed by India and Pakistan besides the host.

Pakistan will visit South Africa for three Tests between Feb 13 and March 10 and will then fly to Zimbabwe to play two Tests and as many one-day internationals from March 14 to March 29.

Pakistan will then return to South Africa and play in a three-nation one-day tournament to be played on triple league. South Africa and Sri Lanka will be the other teams to play in the event.

However, the most interesting part of the schedule is that Pakistan and India, the traditional rivals, will face each other in at least 12 one-day internationals - five in Canada, three in Pakistan, once in Sharjah and thrice in Bangladesh.

The following is the complete programme of the cricket team in the 1997-98 season:

SAHARA CUP IN CANADA SEPT 13: 1st one-day international. SEPT 14: 2nd one-day international. SEPT 17: 3rd one-day international. SEPT 20: 4th one-day international. SEPT 21: 5th one-day international.

INDIA IN PAKISTAN SEPT 28: 1st one-day international at Karachi. SEPT 30: 2nd one-day international at Hyderabad. OCT 2: Third one-day international at Lahore.

SOUTH AFRICA IN PAKISTAN OCT 1-3: three-day v Patron's Trophy winners (UBL) at National Stadium. OCT 6-10: 1st Test at Rawalpindi. OCT 12-14: Three-day at Peshawar. OCT 17-21: 2nd Test at Sheikhupura. OCT 24-28: 3rd Test at Faisalabad.

GOLDEN JUBILEE TOURNAMENT NOV 1: Sri Lanka v West Indies NOV 2: Pakistan v South Africa NOV 3: South Africa v West Indies NOV 4: Pakistan v West Indies NOV 5: Pakistan v Sri Lanka NOV 6: South Africa v Sri Lanka NOV 8: Final.

WEST INDIES IN PAKISTAN NOV 11-14: Four-dayer at Rawalpindi NOV 17-21: First Test at Peshawar NOV 24-26: Three-day at Hyderabad NOV 29-DEC 3: 2nd Test at Rawalpindi DEC 6-10: 3rd Test at Karachi.

SHARJAH TROPHY DEC 11: India v England. DEC 12: Pakistan v West Indies DEC 13: England v West Indies DEC 14: Pakistan v India DEC 15: Pakistan v England DEC 16: India v West Indies DEC 19: Final.

SILVER JUBILEE INDEPENDENCE CUP IN BANGLADESH JAN 10: India v Bangladesh JAN 11: India v Pakistan Jan 12: Pakistan v Bangladesh JAN 14: First final JAN 16: Second final JAN 18: Third final

PAKISTAN TO SOUTH AFRICA FEB 13-17: 1st Test at Johannesburg FEB 26-MARCH 2: 2nd Test at Durban MARCH 6-10: 3rd Test at Port Elizabeth

PAKISTAN TO ZIMBABWE MARCH 14-18: 1st Test at Bulawayo MARCH 21-25: 2nd Test at Harare MARCH 28: 1st one-day at Harare MARCH 30: 2nd one-day at Harare

THREE-NATION IN SOUTH AFRICA APRIL 3: Pakistan v South Africa at Durban APRIL 5: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg APRIL 7: Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Kimberley APRIL 9: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Paarl APRIL 11: Pakistan v South Africa at East London APRIL 13: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Port Elizabeth APRIL 15: Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Benoni APRIL 17: Pakistan v South Africa at Centurion Park APRIL 19: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Bloemfontien APRIL 21: Final at Cape Town.

Source:: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)