February 8, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 9, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: Indian High Commissioner Shivshankar Menon and his wife Mrs Mohini Menon hosted a reception in honour of the visiting Indian cricket team at their residence here on Tuesday evening.

The reception was also attended by members of the victorious Pakistani cricket team that bagged the recent test series and won the first ODI in Peshawar on Monday.

The cricketing heroes clad in their respective national cricket gear stood out among the guests, a mix of bureaucrats, diplomats and journalists, in the sprawling lawn of India House.

Members of the Pakistan team were seen marching off to the adjacent lawn to offer their prayers on hearing the Azan for Maghrib minutes after their arrival at the India House.

The occasion provided a rare photo-op for the guests who spent most of the evening soliciting autographs from the cricket stars for their children!

Conspicuous by their absence were Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar. While the team coach Bob Wolmer was there, the team manager Shehryar Khan was not there as he had gone to Dubai. However, Mrs Minnal Khan was there.

In an informal chat with this correspondent, Indian Skipper Rahul Dravid said he was looking forward to the Rawalpindi match as he enjoyed playing there and also liked the crowd there.

He said although India had lost the Peshawar ODI, it was good game of cricket. He sounded optimistic about the remaining ones. The word around was that the Indian team would meet President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday.

The unassuming Pakistani skipper Inzamamul Haq was his usual humble self. “Allah ka bohat Shukar hai”, was his one-liner response to all who complimented him for the sensational wins. When asked if more wins were in store, he simply smiled and said: “Inshallah. We will try our best.”