20 March 2004	Saturday	28 Muharram 1425

PESHAWAR, March 19: The fine behaviour displayed by the fans on Friday and the good arrangements made for the match showed that Peshawar deserved more than just a one-day game.

After first South Africa and then New Zealand refused to play here because of security concerns last year, the Peshawar crowd was relieved when Shoaib Akhtar delivered the first ball of the match. They had waited so long for cricket to come to their town.

Every ball was cheered and every stroke appreciated, no matter whose bat it came from. So exemplary was their behaviour that they mingled freely with the Indian fans, smiling, talking and enjoying the game.

A small group of them went round the stadium waving Pakistani and Indian flags in an excellent display of friendship. On a huge water tank just outside the stadium flags of both countries fluttered side by side, giving more meaning to the 'Friendship Series'.

But bonds could have been strengthened a wee bit more only if India had agreed to play a Test match in Peshawar. The touring team did not want to stay for a longer duration of a Test citing security fears and hence the cricket-starved fans had to be content with this one-day match.

The fans, however, did not get to watch the kind of fireworks seen in Karachi and Rawalpindi where plenty of runs were scored. India's master batsman Sachin Tendulkar went for a duck and captain Saurav Ganguly couldn't do much. Rahul Dravid too was unable to get a big score.

Still, to the Peshawar crowd it didn't matter. They were there to watch and applaud and long before the last ball was bowled they had proven to the world that they were good hosts, depriving them of a Test match was indeed an injustice.