NEW DELHI, 18 April 2004 — The Indian cricket team arrived in New Delhi yesterday evening to an uproarious welcome by thousands of fans who burst crackers and danced to drumbeats to celebrate their historic win over Pakistan.
Team members had to be sneaked out through an unused airport gateway as a security measure against the jam-packed crowd, many of whom stood on one another’s shoulders to get a peek of their heroes.
Several people waved flags of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which faces national elections starting Tuesday and has been keen to note that it allowed India’s first full tour of its rival neighbor in almost 15 years.
India clinched its first ever Test series win in Pakistan on Friday.
The tourists also won the one-day series, making a clean sweep and marking India’s first overseas win in a decade.
Euphoric Indian Press Lauds Team’s Maiden Series Win
The Indian press was euphoric yesterday, heaping praise on the cricket team which clocked a maiden Test series win against Pakistan on their rivals’ soil and their first overseas victory in a decade.
National dailies splashed front-page pictures of a jubilant Indian team celebrating their 2-1 Test victory over their archrivals under headlines such as “Spirited win, India high” and the “Cup of joy runs over.”
“How sweet it is!” exclaimed the Hindustan Times. The Tribune newspaper headlined its piece “We have done it,” adding “Indians create Test history on Pakistani soil.” The photographs of an ecstatic Indian team were juxtaposed with those of the visibly distraught Pakistani skipper Inzamam ul-Haq. As Indians blearily woke up from a night of firecrackers and partying, they opened newspapers to glowing sports reports which pushed aside news of national elections starting Tuesday.
The Indian team’s visit — the first full tour of Pakistan in 15 years— came as part of confidence building measures to normalize ties upset by a bitter conflict in Kashmir in 1999 and another near-war in 2002.
The Hindu newspaper said India’s double win made it one of the “two strongest powers in international cricket,” the first being Australia. But at the same time, it lauded the Pakistanis’ hospitality and “the absence of anything resembling national chauvinism on either side.”
