With the Test series concluded, attention turned to the ODI series.
The first ODI was scheduled for the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. When play was abandoned without a ball being played due to bad light, a 20-overs-a-side exhibition match was organised instead.
It was a match where the world first became aware of what talent India possessed in the shape of Sachin Tendulkar, only 16 at the time, and on his first overseas tour.
Unlike some of the later encounters between the two sides, the match was played in an excellent spirit. No one epitomised this more than Abdul Qadir, regarded at the time as one of the top spinners of his generation.
After Pakistan had made 157 from 20 overs, India were struggling in their reply, and had lost wickets and were way off the asking rate. Qadir had just bowled a maiden to captain K. Srikkanth, when he approached Tendulkar at the non-striker’s end with a word of encouragement.
He told the teenager in his next over that he should not treat him like an international player, but as someone he might encounter playing for his school and to go for his shots.
Tendulkar just smiled politely, but the words must have sunk in, because he responded to the challenge. He hit the first ball of Qadir’s next over for six over long off.
He was dropped next ball and then found the boundary off the third. The next three balls all cleared the ropes. Qadir later insisting that he had not been feeding him but had been trying his hardest to get the teenager out.
Tendulkar went on to score 53 from just 18 balls. Although India lost by four runs, they would not have got close to the Pakistan score without Tendulkar.
Srikkanth, who had been watching events unfurl from the other end, later expressed his astonishment at the range of shots Tendulkar produced, and declared that it was one of the best innings he ever saw.
Unfortunately, the match is not recorded in the annals of matches between the two sides because it was not afforded official ODI status.