In 1978, India and Pakistan resumed playing cricket with each other after 17 long years. The winds of change came following political turbulence on both sides of the border. A year earlier in 1977, Gen Zia-ul-Haq had wrested control over Pakistan whereas the same year Congress lost the national elections for the first time and Janata Party came to power in India.
Hockey, not cricket, though, was the great sporting rivalry between the two frequently-fighting neighbours those days. Everyone would be glued to the radio as they faced-off in emotional encounters in Asian Games, Olympics and World Cups. Cricket, unfortunately, wasn’t an Olympic sport and the 1975 ODI World Cup, the only one held till then, saw the two countries placed in different groups. Which is why the tour under the leadership of Bishan Singh Bedi became the most talked about and the most eagerly anticipated event in the history of South Asian cricket.