Houston is the USA City of Immigrants of Pakistani and Indian origin. They are seen active in almost every facet of life. These communities live in much harmony in Houston. However some sense of competition enters, when the national cricket teams play a series, especially in Pakistan or India. Recently Pakistani Cricket team visited India after 1999 to reciprocate the last year's Indian full-tour to Pakistan (which came in 2004 after 1989). Thousands of Houstonian Pakistanis and Indians thronged different public places, restaurants and private homes of friends to watch live cricket matches all night long with couple of days gaps between matches (March 08  April 16th, 2005 - 10:30PM. and 6:30AM.).

Pakistanis came out with the last laugh in both test and one-day match series. After being behind 1-0 in the test matches, Pakistanis came with a famous 168-runs win in the last game in Bangalore to square the series, while being 2-0 down in the one-day series, Pakistanis stormed to 4-2 series-win being victorious in four consecutive games.

When Pakistanis landed in India, they were considered the weakest ever test match (five-day games) team in the history to tour India, while called better team for one-day matches. Pakistanis almost lost the first test match at Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh and were saved in the end by resolute batting of Captain Inzi (Inzimam-ul-Haq), Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Razi (Abdul Razzaq), young wicket-keeper Akmi (Kamran Akma) and tail-end all-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. Inzi made 86, Youhana 68, Asim 48, Razi 71, man-of-the-match Akmi 109 and Rana 38 not out. Despite this effort, had it not rained in Mohali, that test match could have still gone in favor of India, since 50-overs (300-balls) game was lost due to weather. But the performances of these above mentioned players, especially of Inzi, when he hit Indian fast medium bowler Balaji for three consecutive fours at the start of his second innings, was the turning point and gave much heart to the Pakistani team, who were then being considered good bunch of players with much team spirit rather than a weak disconsolate side.

In the next test math at Kolkata on a good batting track, Pakistanis again played superb cricket and shell-shocked India on the penultimate fourth day evening by making 95 for one wicket in merely 20-overs chasing 422 to win. However unluckily the first innings century maker Vice-Captain got out first ball on the final day, which gave the Indians psychological ascendancy to win the game by 195 runs with man-of-the-match spinner Kumble taking 10 wickets in the match (3 plus 7).

Pakistanis knew it was merely just that last day hiccup; otherwise they had been playing at par cricket with India and this realization gave them the strength to storm back Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore with an amazing 168 runs win to square the test match series 1-1. Here Captain Inzi (184) and man-of-the-match Vice-Captain Younis Khan (267) totally destroy the Indian bowling where the last match hero Kumble went wicket-less in 46-Overs giving 159 runs. Despite dashing 201 by Sehwag, Indian conceded a huge 121 runs lead. In the second innings, Pakistan made quick-fire 261 for two wickets in only 50-Overs and remarkably gave India as easy task of scoring 383 runs off 576-Balls. India lost their last nine wickets in about 50-Overs and scored only 106 runs, as Pakistani bowlers got them all out with only 36-Balls left to be bowled. The second famous win for Pakistan at Bangalore by 168 runs, after Pakistan team under Imran Khan won here in 1987 of only 16 runs. Afridi took three very important wickets, while Sami, Kaneria and Arshad Khan chip in with two wickets each. Sehwag of India was declared man-of-the-test-match-series.

This was remarkable turn-around for Pakistan and will be written in golden words in the chronicles of cricket. In the series for India, Sehwag with 544 runs (two-centuries) and Dravid with 333 (two-centuries) were leading batsman. Tendulkar (who has been termed by many as individualistic player) could not get his record breaking 35th century in the series with 94 as his highest score (in an innings when he was not given out at a single figure score due to umpires error). In bowling for India, Kumble and Balaji bowled beautifully for their 17 and 14 wickets respectively. For Pakistan, Vice-Captain Younis Khan made 508 runs (two centuries) and Captain Inzi made 401 runs (one century). In bowling, versatile attacking leg-spinner Kaneria got 19, Sami got 10 and Afridi got 8 wickets.

Unlike the test matches, Pakistanis began the one-day series as hot favorites. But in same pattern, where they were not good at test matches, but started off pretty well in this format of cricket; here they started off badly in the one-days. They could not achieve an easy task of scoring 282-runs in 300-balls in the first one-day match at Nehru Stadium, Kochi and lost the game badly by 87-runs. Along the way, they created this myth that batting second in sultry Indian hot weather is difficult and winning the toss batting first is very important. Man-of-the-match Sehwag and Dravid scored fine centuries for India, while Tendulkar bowling around the wickets troubled Pakistanis to amazingly grab 5-wickets.

In the second one-day match at ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam, Pakistanis again lost batting second, when Indians made a huge score of 356 for none wickets in 50-overs and Pakistan replying with 298 all out in the 44th over. Man-of-the-match Dhoni of India was the find of this match, when he hammered 148-runs in only 155-balls and a new star was born. Sehwag blasted another superb 74 off only 40-balls and Dravid made 52. Pakistan lost by 58 runs with 35-balls still to be bowled, which gave this idea that if a team has wickets in hands, they can chase any target on a good batting track despite Indian heat. Had Inzi did not get himself run-out for 16, he would have taken Pakistan to an astonishing win in that second one-day. And that is why at the end of the match interview with Shastri, Inzi said Pakistan will make a comeback. Abdul Razzaq coming one-down scored a scintillating 88 off 93-balls, Youhana made stylish 71 and Akmi made swift 41. This time the successful Indian bowlers were Nehra with 4 and Yuvraj Singh 3 wickets.

Six match series was 2-0 when the third match began. Yes: Inzi was so very correct, Pakistan came back with a purpose at Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur to win by 106-runs and Indians compounded the idea that chasing in India is difficult. They were given 320-runs target and got out for 213 due to superb late-swing bowling of Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who was later declared man-of-the-match, despite Salman Butts 101 in Pakistani innings of 319 in 50-overs. Shoaib Malik contributed a steady 75. Indians could not play well against the swing bowling of Rana and were tottering at one stage at 8-wickets down fro 152-runs. Later on Irfan Pathan made 64 to take India to 213 all out when 106 more runs were required off 50-balls. In this game, Indian Captain Ganguly was fined his whole match fee for slow over-rate and was told, if it happens again, he would get banned for six one-day matches.

Pakistan made a dramatic series return and series got tied 2-2 in the fourth game. Pakistan destroyed their own created myth from the first game, as they successfully chased 316 to win the match off the last ball of the game in a most exciting encounter at Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad. Due to heavy watering by grounds-men, match started late and was reduced to 48-overs a side. India scored a massive 315 for 6 wickets with the help of attacking 123 by star batsman Tendulkar. Dhoni scored 47 and Yuvraj a swift 36 not out. Pakistanis gave away 39 extra runs including 15-wides and 15-no-balls. When Pakistanis chased and made 319 for seven wickets, Indians bowlers gifted 26 extra runs including 15-wides and 7-no-balls. Tendulkar bowled an amazing last over and conceded only 2 runs in the first five deliveries (four dot balls); scores were level, when all the Indian fielders came inside the circle to stop the final run. Man-of-the-match Captain Inzi played that ball with ease and no anxiety to the cover-point fence for four runs. The top five Pakistan batsmen all scored to make sure that it was team effort all the way: Salman Butt 48, Afridi 40, Abdul Razzak 44, Shoaib Malik 65 and Inzi 60 not out. A big win and series got tied 2-2.

Indian team seemed to be very much down. They had lost their long-time Captain Ganguly due to slow over-rate in the second match in a row (suspension of six one-day games) and also due to his bad form (he could have been played, until his appeal was heard). Indians performance under the most successful Indian batsman of the present times Rahul Dravid was not spirited and lacked team effort, despite the charisma of Dravid. In the fifth game at Green Park, Kanpur (where outfield was kind of brown rather than green), Indians lost the initiative in the beginning after a blistering bowling performance of Naved-ul-Hasan 3-wiclets and Abdul Razzaq 2-wickets. At one stage, Indians were reeling at 59 for four wickets, but recovered to 249 for six wickets in 50-overs through 78 by courageous Kaif, 86 by Captain Dravid and quick 33 not out by Mongia (replacing Ganguly). Due to uneven bounce in the pitch, it was expected Pakistanis will struggle in an attempt to score 250 runs. However when their first wicket fell at 131 in only 86-balls, Shahid Afridi left the ground having made 102 off 45-balls with 10 4s and 9 6s. Pakistanis scored the rest of 121 runs for the fall of four more wickets in 167 balls, which showed the importance of man-of-the-match Afridis blitz, because without that Pakistani batsmen did struggle.

Pakistanis were brimming with confidence, as they were 3-2 up and the last game to be played in front of their President Pervez Musharraf in the Indian capitol Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. Pakistan made over three hundred third time in the series, when they scored 303 for 8-wickets in the allotted 50-overs. Afridi again ran away with 44 in 23-balls 6 4s 1 6, man-of-the-match most consistent Shoaib Malik made 72, Youhana 50, Inzi 68 and Younis Khan 40. Agarkar took 3-wickets for India with sustained swing bowling. All hopes were on Tendulkar and Sehwag, but both of them were back in the pavilion by the 8th over and Indian at one stage had reached embarrassing 7-wickets down for only 94-runs.

Indian crowd in Delhi could not take it and started to throw bottles and other stuff onto the ground in disgust. This shows cricket match is more than any other game in that part of the world; it is almost like war for the spectators, although it was seen throughout the series that players of both the sides used to sit with each other in the pavilion outside the ground. Still this crowd reaction was unlike the India-Pakistan series in Pakistan last year, where Pakistani crowd was much friendlier, used to applaud loudly for good Indian performances and showed better sportsmen spirit even when Pakistan lost both the test match and one-day series. From TV coverage, it was clear that the Indian public coming to the stadiums throughout the series was not willing to reciprocate by applauding good performances Pakistani players; this in unbiased manner was continuously pointed out many times by Sanjay Manjrekar, the Indian Commentator.

In the last one-day, Indians chasing 304 eventually lost the match by a huge margin of 159-runs to give Pakistan a moral-boasting series win by 4-2. Man-of-the-series was Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. Just like the test matches, this was one more remarkable come-back by Pakistan in the one-day games and will be written in golden words in the history of cricket. In the series for India, Dravid made 308 (one-hundred & two-fifties), Dhoni scored 261 (one-hundred) and Sehwag 239 (one-century and one-fifty). Best striking rate among India batsmen other than tail-ender Balaji (113.33-runs per 100-balls-faced) was by Sehwag 113.27-runs per 100-balls-faced. Most 11-wickets were taken by Nehra, but he was very expensive as he gave away 6.62-runs per 6-balls. Most expensive bowler was Irfan Pathan (the success of last year) as he gave 8.04-runs per 6-balls and most economical was Harbhajan Singh (Bhaji) 4.80-runs per 6-balls. For Pakistan, best run getters were Shoaib Malik 269 (3 50s), Salman Butt 235 (1 100), Captain Inzi made 228 (2 50s) and Shahid Afridi 211 (1 100). Best striking rate among Pakistani batsmen obviously was of Shahid Afridi 172.95-runs per 100-balls-faced. In bowling for Pakistan, most expensive bowler was Mohamamd Hafeez as he gave 6.90-runs per 6-balls and most economical was Iftikhar Anjum Rao 4.58-runs per 6-balls. Most 15-wickets were taken by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan at 4.85-runs per 6-balls and deservedly got Man-of-the-Series award. Arshad Khan took 9-wickets at 4.96-runs per 6-balls.

Indians are in much disarray. They have lost Ganguly due to suspension and Coach John Wright returning home in New Zealand. They have much to contemplate as to how to improve their cricket performance for the future. Pakistanis have returned home to heroic receptions at Karachi and Lahore airports. They have earned extra bonuses for the series from their Patron-in-Chief General Pervez Musharraf. Expatriates from worldwide including Houston salute the Pakistani cricket team for one of the most memorable tours on Pakistani Cricket's history and wish them well for maintaining and improving the standard of their game matchless level in the years to come.