Dhoni, Pathan croon after India's sensational win

CRICKET: Basking in the glory of their stunning triumph over mighty Australia, Indian cricketers let their hair down and indulged in a long night of celebration that began in the dresssing room and ended with a victory dinner at the team hotel.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's young squad was over the moon after stunning world champions Australia to seek a date with Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup final. Dhoni himself was heard rehearsing for a sing-song session, while the crooner in Irfan Pathan too found himself in demand.

Right after the win, the team shut itself up from public eye to have their own celebration in the privacy of the dressing room. "The boys were singing and dancing with joy.

They cheered each other wildly and hugged every colleague, praising each other's performances on the field. It was quite a sight, a memory to last a lifetime," said India Cricket Manager Lalchand Rajput.

For someone whose voice has been well appreciated by Sachin Tendulkar, Irfan Pathan was all charged up for a long session of singing. "This has been an unbelievable performance. Our first round exit in the World Cup left us with some sad memories but now I can afford to enjoy our success," said Pathan who just couldn't stop singing.

"Today I will sing whatever song my colleagues would request me to sing," he said. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni too was in a mood to showcase his passion for singing.

He was humming "...Iske aage ki ab dastan mujh se sun, sun ke teri nazar dab daba jayeegi...", a Kishore Kumar number from Mukaddar Ka Sikandar and was also very keen to sing it for his teammates at the celebratory dinner that started around midnight.

"This is one of my favourite songs and I'm just rehearsing it," said Dhoni, who added he had a hunch of a great day in offing when Pakistan defeated New Zealand earlier in the day to qualify for the finals.

"Pakistan was very impressive against New Zealand. They played brilliantly and when they won, I said to myself, 'maybe the stage is set for an India-Pakistan final'.

"You guys talked about a dream final but I was focused on taking one match at a time. But, somehow, after Pakistan's win over New Zealand, I felt if we could stay calm and confident and concentrate on playing well, we could surprise Australia. And that we ended up doing!"