Congratulations, champagne and cash flowed in India Friday after Saurav Ganguly and his boys in blue snatched a maiden cricket Test series victory on Pakistani soil.
A delighted cricket chief Jagmohan Dalmiya immediately announced a five million rupee (1.2 million dollar) reward for the players, while national leaders clogged with phone lines with good wishes and fans uncorked champagne at home.
Indian President Abdul Kalam led the nation in hailing skipper Ganguly and his team, minutes after they beat Pakistan by an innings and 131 runs in the third and final Test to clinch the series 2-1 in the city of Rawalpindi.
"My hearty congratulations to all of you on this historic and fantastic win that you have registered...," Kalam, the architect of India's nuclear missiles, said in a message relayed to Ganguly.
"The whole nation is proud of you ... this has been made possible by admirable team effort," Kalam said.
Ganguly's squad also won the one-day series, making a clean sweep in India's first full tour of Pakistan in almost 15 years, which came amid warming ties between the two South Asian nations who have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since 1947.
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