In a city that allows its residents only a few days of respite, jubilant citizens of Karachi took to the streets to celebrate the thrilling 85 runs victory of the Pakistani cricket team over India in the second one-day international (ODI) match at Eden Garden Cricket Stadium, Kolkata in a three ODI series on Thursday. Almost all areas in the city echoed with gunshots as citizens, mostly youngsters, thronged the streets and roundabouts, dancing to the tunes of national songs. While holding national flags in their hands, some people also distributed sweets and felicitated each other over the sensational triumph of the national cricket team. Dance, bhangra and dhamal with aerial firing were a common sight observed in every nook and corner of the city. It is important to mention here that this was the first series which Pakistan won against India on Indian grounds. Earlier, Karachi roared to life with aerial firing with every fall of an Indian wicket in the match. Meanwhile, vehicular traffic came to a standstill as some people even started dancing on the roads by parking their vehicles on the sides. Some cricket enthusiasts had installed large screens at certain points of the city to enjoy ball-to-ball live coverage of the second ODI. The viewers were seen glued to the television screens until the last Indian wicket fell. Fireworks were carried out whenever a boundary was scored by the national team, and with every fall of an Indian wicket. Talking to Pakistan Today during the last moments of the match, a cricket fan named Muhammad Hassan from Gulshan-e-Iqbal said that he had missed his scheduled classes at the University of Karachi and had not moved away even a single inch from the television screen. “Pakistan has to win,” he said passionately. “Some of our friends arranged plasma screens and invited all of us to join them to watch the important match,” he said. “We knew that the Pakistani team will win the match when the Indian batsmen arrived at the crease,” he added. Another cricket fan told Pakistan Today that he had made arrangements for over a 100 people and had set up a tent in the street to watch the match. “My best wishes are with the Pakistani team and I hope that we win this match,” said Kamran Ali, a resident of Kalaboard in Malir. “Pakistan has the record that it always wins matches against India in Kolkata and our team has to win the match to maintain the record.” “Pakistan won the series against India in their home ground in 2005 and we are hopeful that the Pakistani team will come back to the country with the trophy,” he added enthusiastically. Ali said that India had proved its worth by winning the cricket world cup and even in this match India was in a strong position. Later, as soon as Pakistan won the match, all the people at the gathering started dancing and cheering the impressive series win by the boys in green.
