5 Lesser known fundraising matches involving Indian teams and players

1. Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital Fund – Pakistan vs India in 1989:

India’s tour of Pakistan in 1989-90 was marked to witness the debuts of Sachin Tendulkar and Waqar Younis. The duo were in opposite teams a week before their Test debuts as Pakistan and India clashed off in a Charity match. On the eve of the 3-day practice game against BCCP Patron’s XI, the Indian team took on Pakistan in a one-day match at the Gaddafi Stadium. The game was played to raise funds for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital located in Lahore.

The hospital was the effort of the then Pakistan skipper Imran Khan who built it in memory of his late mother Shaukat Khanum who passed away in the 1980s due to cancer. Sachin Tendulkar, during the 2006 Test series, what turned out to be his last tour to Pakistan, visited Imran Khan’s hospital along with his teammates including the then captain Rahul Dravid. Pakistan, who batted first in the match, finished with 187/7 in 37 overs with Rameez Raja scoring 56 and Imran Khan contributed 37 runs.

India’s chase was powered by a century stand between Navjot Singh Sidhu (69) and Sanjay Manjrekar (40). India were cruising in the chase at 138/1 before a middle-order collapse saw them limited to only 183/7. Interestingly, Pakistan won the other exhibition match played during that tour also by exactly four runs. The 1st game of the ODI series was abandoned without toss and hence, a 20-over match was played to please the crowd.