Travelling Indian fans have had plenty to cheer about

Television channels broke regular programming to flash the news of the victory on Thursday.

India won by an innings and 52 runs - one of their biggest wins and the first on Pakistani soil.

Delighted Indians burst firecrackers and danced on the streets after the victory.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee led the celebrations with a message of congratulation for the team.

The chairman of India's cricket selection board, Syed Kirmani, described it as a historic win.

"This should be one of the best victories India has ever scored. An innings win is the most ideal India can have over Pakistan," he said.

His thoughts were echoed by many young fans.

"It's very good we beat Pakistan in Pakistan," said 16-year-old Tushar Prabhakar, a college student in Bombay.

Sehwag hailed

In Delhi, fans gathered outside the home of batsman Virender Sehwag who was declared Man of the Match for his triple century, the first by an Indian.

It was great. We made history and that too on Pakistani soil Ranjit Rana

Elsewhere in the city, fans stayed home on a working day to watch India wrap up the win.

"I delayed my appointments today because I wanted to stay at home and watch the match," said businessman Ranjit Rana.

"It was great. We made history and that too on Pakistani soil."

Nimit Garg, a student who has just completed his school examinations, was delighted with India's performance.

"India dominated from the start and I thought the whole team played very well. I think the team is finally playing as one unit and that is what helped us win the match."

But Aditya Chakravarti felt that Pakistan's capitulation was unexpected and unfortunate.

"The manner in which the Pakistan team played was quite disheartening, the complete washout of their side was really bad.

"If they had put up the slightest fight then they could have salvaged some pride, this was unexpected from a team as good as them."

Muted celebrations

But generally Indians were less excited about the win since it came after India's victory in the one-day international matches preceding the test series.

The cricket has brought ordinary life to a standstill

"One-day cricket excites people more than the five-day test matches," said Pawan Kumar, a software engineer, at a New Delhi food market.

In the cricket mad eastern metropolis of Calcutta, security guard Safdar Ali, placed the match in a larger context.

"Our team has won the Test and may win the series but more important it has won Pakistani hearts," he said, referring to the enormous goodwill the cricket series has generated between the two countries.

"If this goes on, the two neighbours will come closer."

But many people in the city were concerned about the injury to the captain of the national team and local hero Sourav Ganguly.

"Sourav Ganguly, whose captaincy has brought to such new heights, is injured and we are worried about how serious it is," said Tapan Ghosh, an office assistant.