SHEERI (Baramulla), Aug. 4 -- The first thing that greets visitors at the newly bought house of India's newest Test cricketer in Sheeri village is not the sound of celebration-it is the quiet faith of an elderly grandmother whose prayers have finally been answered.

Sitting inside the modest family home near the Police Training Centre in Sheeri, her wrinkled fingers gently moving over a string of prayer beads, Fazi Begum, grandmother of Auqib Nabi Dar, could barely hold back her tears as television channels flashed the news that her grandson had been selected in India's Test squad.

For years, she had offered the same prayer after every namaz: "May my grandson one day wear the Indian jersey." On Monday, Almighty Allah answered those praye...