A few members of the Indian cricket team including skipper M S Dhoni watched Shah Rukh Khan starrer Om Shanti Om at a multiplex in Chandigarh on Friday while Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar visited an orphanage.
While a few players of the Indian team including Virender Sehwag left the city today to be with their family on Diwali eve, others like Dhoni, Robin Utthapa and Irfan Pathan went to a multiplex in the afternoon to watch the movie.
Senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, his wife Anjali, son Arjun and daughter Sara along with Sourav Ganguly, his wife and daughter also accompanied Dhoni and company.
Arjun, who has been seen over the past three days swirling his bat around and enjoying the company of his parents, looked more cheerful today after being in somber mood on Thursday, when India lost to Pakistan in the Mohali ODI in a nail-biting finish.
Local lad Yuvraj Singh drove around the city in his yellow sports car, attracting attention of his fans.
At the multiplex too, the Indian team was mobbed by fans who were pleasantly surprised to see their favourite cricketing heroes in person.
During a post-match press conference on Thursday, Dhoni had said, though the team felt sad by losing; that was not the end of it.
"Field mein hi hamaree zindagi khatam nahein hotee (our life does not end on the field)," Dhoni had said.
Indian team's fielding coach Robin Singh went for shopping.
Indian cricketers have planned to celebrate Diwali in a quiet manner, team sources said.
Markets here were choc-o-bloc with people doing last minute shopping on Diwali.
Meanwhile, Pakistani team members have also planned to watch a movie later tonight. Earlier in the day, they remained locked in their hotel rooms.
However, pacer Shoaib Akhtar went to an orphanage in Chandigarh and spent some time with the special children there.
The orphanage takes care of 120 children, including mentally and physically challenged.
The children sang a few songs for Akhtar, who played cricket with them with a tennis ball.
Interacting with media persons at the orphanage, Akhtar said he was touched by meeting the children.
After meeting those children he even said that today was a 'big occasion' for him... almost equal to the happiness he gets when Pakistan wins.
"Charity is close to my heart. Even in Australia, I raised funds for bone marrow bank and have been taking up cancer cause as well," he said.
The Rawalpindi express also termed Sachin Tendulkar and newly appointed Test captain Anil Kumble as greatest players that India has produced.
The teams are scheduled to leave Chandigarh for Lucknow by a chartered flight on Saturday afternoon.
