There was a big Bangladesh flag in between the Hanif Muhammad and Mushtaq Ahmed enclosures during the first one-day international at the Multan Cricket Stadium yesterday.

But instead of it being carried by any Bangladeshis, the red and green flag was waved by a few Pakistani supporters.

Although the presence of the flag lifted the sprits of the Bangladesh team, but those who were carrying it had other ideas.

They were not at all rallying behind the Tigers. Rather they wanted to be seen on television and that's why they carried the Bangladesh flag.

Another case of fans playing camera tricks was during the third Test when a group of Pakistan supporters sported England's one-day uniform.

UNOFFICIAL HOLIDAY

The city of Multan had an unofficial holiday when the first ODI between Bangladesh and Pakistan was played at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Around 30,000 cricket buffs filled the stadium to see the home side in a rare international match. The holiday mood was not confined to the ground as another 5,000 ticket-less fans watched the match from any available spot beside the giant stadium.

Many colleges and schools remained closed for the day while attendance in offices was very thin. Others stayed home to watch the 50-over contest on television.

TALE OF TWO DEBUTANTS

The first one-dayer was not an enjoyable one for two debutants. Bangladesh's middle-order batsman Rajin Saleh, one of the stars of the Test series, scored only 25 before throwing his wicket. He was bowled by Abdul Razzak while trying to the hit the medium-paceman over mid-wicket.

The young right-hander from Sylhet scored 186 runs in the three Tests. It was also his debut series.

And then there was Junaid, son of PCB chairman Gen Tauqir Zia.

The right-arm medium-pacer though did not get any wickets but he also did not get into trouble action.

Even before walking into the highest level Junaid became infamous for his suspect action at the age-group level.

He was reported twice during the Under-19 World Cup in January 2002 by Sri Lankan umpire Ashoka de Silva and once during a first-class match last season.

Former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar once said in an interview that Junaid's bowling could be described as 'chucking'.

"Junaid Zia threw the ball blatantly while bowling and would have put Shoaib Akhtar to shame."