Relatives and friends danced with joy on Thursday outside the New Delhi home of batsman Virendra Sehwag, whose triple century — the first by an Indian — helped his team beat Pakistan for the first time on Pakistani soil.
A stream of well-wishers greeted Sehwag’s parents.
”It’s very good we beat Pakistan in Pakistan,” said 16-year-old Tushar Prabhakar, a college student in Bombay.
Celebrations were subdued, however, across this cricket-obsessed country as India registered their third successive win against archrival Pakistan within two weeks.
”One-day cricket excites people more than the five-day Test matches,” said Pawan Kumar, a software engineer, at a New Delhi food market.
When India recorded their first limited-overs series win in Pakistan with one-day international victories at Lahore on March 21 and 24, millions of cricket fans poured into the streets across India.
They set off firecrackers, beat drums, danced and handed out candies after India clinched the one-day series 3-2 — their first one-day series win against Pakistan.
But on Thursday, most cricket fans were on their way to work when India’s left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan claimed the wicket of century-maker Yousuf Youhana (117) and completed India’s defeat of Pakistan by an innings and 52 runs in the first of the three-Test series.
The victory was expected. Pakistan had only one wicket remaining on Thursday morning.
”The victory was inevitable. It took away excitement,” said J Satyanarayana, a college student in Hyderabad, the capital of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Kumar also said that the Pakistani players performed below their potential.
”One can expect a better fight in the next two Test matches,” he said.
The second and third Tests of India’s first full tour of Pakistan in 14 years will be played in Lahore and Rawalpindi before the team return home on April 18.
Security concerns had threatened to stop India’s tour, but India’s Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, pushed for it to go ahead amid hopes the series will help improve ties between the neighbours, who have fought three wars since gaining independence in 1947.
”Indian cricketers have put up great performances,” said Deepak Jain, a businessman in New Delhi.
Despite their rivalry, rooted in decades of mistrust and focused on the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan have improved dramatically in recent months.
Yusuf Naqshbandi, a school cricket coach in the Indian portion of Kashmir, said perhaps the purpose of this cricket series was beyond sports.
”If we take that view then both emerged winners: India won the matches, Pakistan won the hearts.”
Thousands of Indian cricket fans visiting Pakistan to watch cricket matches have been warmly welcomed since the tour began last month. No tensions have been reported after the sharp-edged matches. — Sapa-AP