India hailed its cricket team after their sensational victory over Pakistan in the first one-day international in Karachi on Saturday.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar led the rich praise after the tourists squeezed out a five-run victory in a tense game which produced the highest aggregate runs in one-day history.
"Now you know what cricket-lovers missed all these years. Now you know why the Ashes rivalry pales before this," wrote Gavaskar in his newspaper column on Sunday.
"Now you know why the two countries come to a virtual standstill when they play each other."
Indian newspapers on Sunday gave blanket front-page coverage to the match.
"Going...Going...Won," screamed the headline in the Hindustan Times while Indian Express trumpeted: "Big Bang Beginning".
Newspapers hailed left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra, who kept his nerve to give away just three runs in the final over and also had wicket-keeper Moin Khan caught attempting the last-ball six.
Papers said Nehra's effort helped India to atone for the misery they had endured for 18 years since current coach Javed Miandad hit a stunning last-ball six to clinch a tournament in Sharjah in 1986.
Nehra was hailed as a hero, one newspaper even describing what his German Shepherd dog, Durban, was doing during the dramatic final over he bowled.
Indian media hailed the exemplary behaviour of fans in Karachi's national stadium with the Indian Express story headlined: "If this is day one, if this is cricket, just bring it on".
Meanwhile, the banner headline in The Times of India screamed "Karachi Captured," and it subtitled its front-page report on the match - which saw the highest ever number of runs ever scored in a one-day international, a total of 693 - "India on Fire."
"Big Bang Beginning," The Indian Express headline read, adding: "If this is day one, if this is cricket, just bring it on." The newspaper even devoted two columns to what paceman Ashish Nehra's dog did when the player started to bowl the final over, denying Pakistan the nine runs the hosts needed to beat India's 349.
The daily said the German Shepherd "stopped pacing to settle down quietly near a sofa, blinking" while his master bowled the nail-biting over to a capacity crowd of 33,000 people packed into Karachi's National stadium.
"Run riot in Karachi, Pakistan Hurt," blared the The Pioneer. It said Nehra's success had exorcised the humiliation of the last-ball, match-winning six smashed against India by Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad - the current coach - in 1986.
"Each time the sixer is brought up in conversation with an Indian cricket fan from this day on, the Karachi six that wasn't will be the riposte," said the The Statesman in a euphoric page-one editorial.
The last-over suspense was too much for Indian fan Suresh Gutgutia, 57, who suffered a heart attack and died on Saturday in the city of Dhanbad while watching the game and never got to see India win.
In Islamabad, Indian team manager Ratnakar Shetty said more accolades were in store for Ganguly's boys in blue.
"The team has been told there will be a meeting with the President (Pervez Musharraf) on March 17. We believe it is a get-together over tea," he said as Indian ambassador in Islamabad Shivshankar Menon planned a lavish dinner for the players the same day. Back in India, the win dominated TV networks, which replayed the game highlights and interviewed relatives and friends of the Indian players.
"There was tension and so I kept on praying while my son played," said Krishna Devi, mother of Indian batsman Virender Sehwag, who hammered 79 runs off 57 balls to lead India to their highest one-day total against Pakistan.
"It was Kaif and Nehra who clinched the game," Runu Goswamy, a fan from Calcutta, told a TV station. "We could see the replays a million times," she gushed. Kaif raced 20 metres (yards) and dived over Hemang Badani to clutch the ball off Malik's bat, while Nehra conceded just three runs in the final over.
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