Sharjah Trophy '99: Pakistan hot favourite
The Champion's Trophy 1999 is all set to roll under floodlights at Sharjah Cricket Stadium from October 13-22, 1999
M. Shoaib Ahmed
11-Oct-1999
The Champion's Trophy 1999 is all set to roll under floodlights at
Sharjah Cricket Stadium from October 13-22, 1999. And the lights will
not be the only source of illumination during the pleasant winter
evenings in Sharjah as the tournament also boasts of a galaxy of stars
from some of the finest cricketing outfits in the world including
biggest crowd-pullers Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Apart from the winners and runners-up prizes, there are attractive
packages for the fastest fifty, best bowlers and best
fielders. Sharjah is the circuit's busiest venue of One-day
International cricket, since 1983-84.
With a total of 146 such contests, twenty-five tournaments have been
played here over the last fifteen years ever since the Sharjah matches
were recognised internationally.
Pakistan leads the way with ten successes. In fact Pakistan has won
every trophy in Sharjah held from March 1989 to February 1993. The
Indians hold the second position with six wins. India won the first
two recognised tournaments held at Sharjah but have experienced a lean
patch till 1995.
Pakistan's Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Rameez Raja and Javed Miandad,
India's Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Navjot Sidhu and Sri
Lanka's Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga crossed the 1000-run
mark on Sharjah soil. Similarly the Pakistani skipper Wasim Akram and
Waqar Younis have achieved the distinction of 50-wickets in
Sharjah. After the performance in Toronto against West Indies,
Pakistan remain the favourites to clinch the Sharjah Champions' trophy
'99, in which the other teams are West Indies and Sri Lanka.