Karachi Blues were given a surprise when two Bahawalpur teams arrived to play a first class match against them in the Quaid-e-Azan Trophy. Their opponents were representing different factions of their warring Association, with both sets of players determined to honour the fixture at the start of the 1997/98 season against the future champions.

Incredibly four years previously Blues had been awarded the match against Bahawalpur when nobody turned up. From famine to feast.