MOHALI, March 8: When India toured Pakistan last year for the first time in 15 years, they were overwhelmed by the warm hospitality extended to them. So now it is their turn to do so and they are doing everything to please their guests.
Almost all hotels in Mohali and nearby Chandigarh have displayed large banners welcoming the Pakistani fans and are offering good deals. Special events to mark the occasion have been arranged and a grand dinner by the Punjab Chief Minister for visiting fans is being planned for Wednesday.
It is a party atmosphere in town and the Pakistanis are truly enjoying a taste of Indian hospitality. "I am indeed impressed, we have been greeted with open arms wherever we have gone," said Abdul Rashid who crossed over from Wagha.
The local administration is also doing whatever it can to make things comfortable for the touring fans and have even advised the rickshaw drivers to be polite to the visitors and not to overcharge.
Outside the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium where the first Test began on Tuesday, Indian fans held aloft banners proclaiming "Dosti Pakki" and shouted slogans of "Pakistani-India dosti zindabad", while flags of both countries fluttered side by side in the distance, giving more meaning to this "Friendship Series".
A virtually full-house at the 35,000 capacity stadium enjoyed the day's play and cheered their teams on - the prominent feature was a huge Pakistan flag in one of the stands.
MIXING BUSINESS
Some of the Pakistani fans who have streamed into India, are also doing business on the sidelines of cricket setting up stalls to sell their wares in Chandigarh, the Hindi edition of The Tribune reported on Tuesday.
The paper said that the officials of the local municipality objected to the Pakistanis selling stuff like dry fruit and clothes but on the intervention of the market's traders, the matter was settled and they were allowed to continue. Everything was then quickly sold off.
Woolmer Turns Coach-cum-Columnist
MOHALI, March 8: These are early days in Pakistan's tour of India and coach Bob Woolmer has already begun some extra-curricular activity, choosing to write for the Hindustan Times.
Instead of focusing on his job on an important tour as this, the 85,000 pound-a-year man is perhaps out to make more money his column appearing on Tuesday prompting the question that if ever there was a code of conduct for the coach.
When Shoaib Akhtar spoke to the media, the disciplinarians at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) fined him $500 but when a coach opts to write, the cricket boss look the other way.
The column under the headline "It will be taxing" does not have much substance though as Woolmer talks about the snow-covered mountains in Dharamsala, the rain that disrupted the tour opener there and the "horrendous" itinerary for the one-dayers that follow the Tests.
Interestingly, one striking feature of the column is a blunder committed by the coach who writes: "(Shahid) Afridi scored a century here (in Mohali) six years ago. Our selection meeting will be very interesting! Let the battle begin!" The batsman actually scored his century in Madras (now Chennai) when Pakistan toured in 1999.
Woolmer who took over as the Pakistan coach in June 2004, played 19 Tests for England and has coached South Africa between 1994 and 1999. Under Woolmer, who replaced Javed Miandad following the home series with India, Pakistan have now lost four Tests out of five.
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