Cricket fans queue outside Pakistan mission for visa
by Vikram Vishal

    New Delhi: With the first Test match of the much awaited series between India and Pakistan just three days away, cricket fever has again gripped the two countries. Die-hard Indian cricket fans willing to watch the series between the arch rivals, were seen on Tuesday making a beeline outside the Pakistani High Commission in the capital to get visas for the first Test match beginning January 13. People, who had come from several parts of the country, stood in long queue waiting patiently braving another chilly morning in Delhi. The Pakistani government will issue around 8000 visas for the forthcoming series.

   The validity of the visas for Test matches would be eight days, while for one-dayers it would be for three days, limited to particular cities. Fans waiting for their turn in the queue said that though the on field animosity between the two sides had toned down over the past few years, the series was the mother of all clashes. "The atmosphere in the two countries is friendly now and we are happy that we are getting visas to watch the matches by visiting Pakistan," said Ramesh, a local. "We want to visit Pakistan to watch Test matches. It is good that relations have improved," added Shyam Sharma, another local. Surjeet Singh, a fan from Punjab, said that besides watching the matches there, it was also an opportunity to meet their relatives in Pakistan. "As the relations have improved between the countries, we thought it was the right time to meet our relatives in Pakistan. And with more people-to-people contact, relations will further improve between the two sides," Singh said. Cricket historically has played a big role in improving diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries with President Musharraf also visiting Delhi last year to watch a one- day international between the two teams. In 2004, the Indian team's first visit to Pakistan in 14 years played a big role in increasing people to people contact and boosting the peace process. In 1987, Pakistan's late President Zia-ul-Haq had also flown to India in the midst of a cricket series to watch a match during a period of tense relations between both countries. Officials say 2000 more visas would be issued later for those fans that have already purchased tickets for the matches. India, who started their tour of Pakistan this week, are scheduled to play three tests and five one-day internationals. The first Test match of the three match series will be played at Lahore's Qaddafi Stadium from January 13, second Test match from January 21 in Faisalabad and the third and final Test would be played in Karachi from January 29.

   The five-match one-day series will begin on February 6 in Peshawar. The second one-day international will be played in Rawalpindi on February 11, third one-day international in Lahore on February 13, fourth in Multan on February 16 and fifth and final one-day international in Karachi on February 19. In the last full-fledged series between the arch rivals in 2004, which had taken place after a gap of nearly 15 years, India had won both Test (2-1) and one-day series (3-2). However, with India ranked second and Pakistan third in the ICC Test rankings and both teams morale high after winning their last series, the contest this time is expected to be even more close. The Team: Rahul Dravid (Captain), Virender Sehwag (Vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh.

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