Rawalpindi:
Leg-spinner Anil Kumble grabbed four quick wickets on
Friday, bowling to a historic maiden Test series win on
Pakistani soil, their first in six attempts. It was India's
first series win against Pakistan since 1979-80. The victory
margin, an innings and 131 runs, was their biggest against
Pakistan beating the innings and 70-run win in their inaugural
test at New Delhi in 1952.
India
hailed its cricket team's historic maiden Test series victory
in Pakistan as one of the finest moments in the country's
cricketing history. Delirious fans shouted slogans praising
the players and burst crackers in celebrations across the
country as soon as the team clinched the deciding third
test in Rawalpindi. Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid's family
members in Bangalore were overjoyed by the performance of
their son. Sharad Dravid, father of man-of-the-match Rahul,
said that he was specially happy that his son's performance
helped the team win the series. "We feel very very happy.
It's a very important tour and now you realise that it's
a very important tour. Its good performance of the whole
team which got them this win...we are extremely happy,"
he said. While Rahul Dravid was adjudged man of the match
for his match winning innings of 270, opener V. Sehwag won
the man of the series award. In another records set today,
skipper Saurav Ganguly became the most successful captain
by winning 15 Tests.
He
surpassed Mohd. Azharuddin's 14 Tests win as captain. There
were celebrations at the Indian pace bowler Laxmipathy Balaji's
home in Chennai. Balaji did the initial damage on Friday,
dismissing Kamran Akmal (23) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (9) to set
the tone for India's first overseas series win sincebeating
Sri Lanka 10 years ago. Balaji's mother said that she was
proud of her son's performance. "I am very very happy that
he has performed very well for India. He has performed very
well...actually beyond my expectations. I am really proud
of him," N.D. Mallika said.
The
cricket fans were obviously delighted. "Its very very good
that India has won the match and performed very well after
a gap of 14 years," said Hajinder Singh, a cricket fan.
Another cricket fan P.V.Thomas, said: "After such a long
time under Ganguly's captaincy they have won the series."
People in Jammu were ecstatic at the outcome of the match.
"India is a very good team. The fielding and batting were
very good," said Shahdab, a cricket enthusiast. "It is a
very interesting series and especially because it was played
in Pakistan. Winning and losing are different but on the
whole it was very good," said Imran But, a local. The Indian
cricket board congratulated the players and quickly announced
a victory bonus of Rs. fifty lakh.
Only
a miracle can save Pak now: Inzimam (Go
To Top)
Rawalpindi:
Only a batting miracle can save Pakistan from losing
its first series on home soil to India, said captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Expressing his disappointment over the team's performance
with two full days to go in the third and final Test being
played here, he said that so far Pakistan had been completely
outplayed by India in all aspects of the game. "We have
just not been in this match since the first session. We
batted poorly and without application. We bowled badly because
this was not a pitch on which we should have allowed India
to score 600 runs," the News quoted him, as saying.
He
also expressed his unhappiness over the lack of spirit exhibited
by the players at his disposal, particularly seniors like
Shoaib Akhtar. "He (Shoaib) says his wrist is paining and
he has hurt his back side muscles which is hampering his
movement," Inzamam said, adding that such reactions only
dampened the mood and the will of the team. "We went in
with four specialist bowlers and with just three fit bowlers
there was only as much one could ask of Sami, Fazl-e- Akbar
and Kaneria. I think all three of them tried their best,"
he said. He said the bad news for Pakistan was that the
middle-order batsman Asim Kamal was still struggling to
be fit to bat in the second innings. Asim was hit on his
right elbow by a ferocious pull from Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly on Wednesday evening and although X-rays didn't
show any major damage, he has been struggling with acute
pain and a stiff arm. "I am backing myself as the senior
most batsman in the team to still save this Test but it
is not going to be easy. It is going to be a very hard and
difficult task for us to save this game now. But I am backing
myself to lead the way for other batsmen," he said.
A
visibly upset Rameez Raja, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)
CEO, also said that Shoaib and some other players had just
failed to show more responsibility. "Shoaib was a disappointment.
He must realize that he can't just survive on reputation
alone, performance also matters a lot. For someone of his
reputation, one or two wickets don't matter he needed to
do more than that for the team," he said.
