| 1997 Friendship Cup | |
| Administrator: | International Cricket Council |
| Cricket Format: | One Day International |
| Participants: | 2 |
| Matches: | 6 |
| Player Of The Series: |  Sourav Ganguly |
| Most Runs: | Sourav Ganguly (222) |
| Most Wickets: | Sourav Ganguly (15) |
| Previous Year: | 1996 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1996 'Friendship' Cup |
| Next Year: | 1998 |
| Next Tournament: | 1998 'Friendship' Cup |
The 1997 'Friendship Cup' , also known as the 1997 Sahara 'Friendship Cup' for sponsorship reasons was a One Day International cricket series which took place between 13 and 21 September 1997.[1] The tournament was held in Canada, which was seen as perfect neutral territory for India and Pakistan to play each other. The tournament was won by India 4–1. The matches were played in white clothing and a red ball was used.
| Most runs[2] | Most wickets | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=160 | width=40 align=center | 222 | width=160 | width=40 align=center | 15 | ||
| align=center | 197 | align=center | 9 | ||||
| align=center | 145 | align=center | 8 | ||||
| align=center | 140 | Debasis Mohanty | align=center | 8 | |||
| align=center | 132 | align=center | 7 | ||||
During the 2nd ODI, spectator Shiv Kumar Thind, an Indian living in Toronto, used a megaphone to shout abuse at Pakistan batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq. Thind likened Inzamam's physical size to that of several kinds of potato and Buddha(an old man). Inzamam took offense to this and proceeded to enter the crowd and challenge Thind. When Thind threw his megaphone at him, ul-Haq borrowed a cricket bat from a teammate and attempted to attack Thind with it. The event subsequently caused a 37-minute delay in the game and later resulted in both men filing charges of assault against one another. Thind and ul-Haq later withdrew the charges, although the Pakistan Cricket Board banned Inzamam for two matches.[3]