ISLAMABAD, April 24: Green and yellow balloons went up, flower petals were showered profusely and a plane overhead unloaded colorful paper ribbons as Islamabad rolled out a red carpet to welcome the victorious Pakistan cricket team on Sunday.

Hundreds of flag-waving and cheering fans gathered at the Citibank Intersection to catch a glimpse of their heroes who outplayed India in the one-day competition while drawing the three-Test series across the border.

A fleet of 16 vehicles, each bedecked with roses, carried every team member separately through the Blue Area Boulevard towards the square in front of the Parliament House where the players were received and greeted by Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

Fans had waited impatiently for hours at the starting point of the victory procession and once captain Inzamamul Haq’s vehicle appeared in the distance all the wait seemed worth it.

The skipper, waving and shaking hands with the crowd through the sunroof of the vehicle carrying him, seemed simply overwhelmed by the warm welcome. Flower petals were all over him as Islamabad showed how much they loved the man who led the team from the front to shatter a great Indian dream.

Inzamam was followed by vehicles that had vice captain Younis Khan and Yousuf Youhana on board and they too were greeted quite warmly but it was Shahid Afridi who was clearly the darling of the crowd for his blazing knocks in India.

Fans swarmed his vehicle in a bid to shake hands and have a good look of the charismatic cricketer whose batting heroics in Kanpur where he cracked a century off just 45 balls, were a treat to watch.

After crawling through the length of the Boulevard, the final phase of the celebration was marked by slogans after the players had been adorned with yellow turbans by Sheikh Rashid.

Although the crowd that turned up to greet the cricketers was not as much as was expected, the people were well behaved and the police did not have to wield their batons.