Karachi: Cricket can be unforgiving to those sides that don't take their chances. India got to bowl in the best conditions for bowling, had the opposition in much disarray, but failed to cash in. Pakistan regrouped, consolidated, and has now put itself in a position from where a Test series triumph beckons.

In the process, Pakistan has also shown how different it is from the side of 2004 that succumbed mentally after being inserted by India on a green wicket in the decider at Rawalpindi. Now, it is the Indians who need to bat out of their skins to save the third Allianz Test at the National Stadium here.

On an imposing 511 for five at the conclusion of day three, Pakistan leads by 518 runs. The pitch, looked as a green-top initially, has now turned sand coloured. This change in the texture of the surface was only to be expected given that the Sun has shone brightly on all the days. The track appeared to have eased out, but then the quicker and the taller Pakistani bowlers could extract more bounce and seam movement from the wicket.

Iqbal's day out

It was a day of much joy for the young Faisal Iqbal (103 batting, 191b, 12x4). The wristy batsman celebrated his thumping comeback into the Test ranks by swinging Anil Kumble in the day's last over to reach his maiden Test century.

With hefty contributions from stand-in skipper Younis Khan (77, 122b, 11x4), Mohammad Yousuf (97, 161b, 12x4) and Shahid Afridi (60, 46b, 9x4, 1x6), Pakistan gradually gained control of the Test.

Being the legendary Javed Miandad's nephew, Iqbal has the right pedigree. His batting has that distinct sub-continental flavour, and he seems to be the kind who relishes the big stage. The right-hander, with fluent footwork, collected runs with ease on the leg-side and there was a wristy cover-drive off Zaheer Khan that was brilliantly executed. He also had slices of luck when bat-pad half chances off Kumble were not gobbled up at short-leg. Importantly, from Pakistan's perspective, he

was involved in partnerships of 84 for the fifth wicket with Shahid Afridi in 115 balls and 109 (unbeaten) for the sixth wicket in 187 deliveries with Abdul Razaaq (44 batting, 92b, 2x4, 2x6). Razzaq, typically, struck the ball hard and straight.

Lacking in speed

There were phases when the Indian bowling was more disciplined, but once again the pacemen were lacking in speed. When the pitch loses juice, deliveries at around 125 kmph are hardly going to trouble a frontline batting line-up.

The all left-arm composition of the Indian pace attack deprived it of the variety needed to unsettle the batsmen; in fact they could settle into a rhythm. There were occasions when Sourav Ganguly appeared the pick of the Indian pacemen. The one moving away from the right-hander by the right-arm paceman is the key delivery at the highest level and there was no specialist bowler sending down this ball for India in this Test, Younis and Yousuf have not been complaining though. Take away their first-over dismissals in the ongoing Test, and the two have been stringing together chunky associations. And they have done so with positive batting. Both are strong off-side players, but have consistently gathered runs on the leg-side making it difficult for the bowlers to stem the flow of runs.

Effective, if not attractive, Younis seemed on course for his fifth three-figure innings in five Tests against India when he pushed forward to a googly from Kumble to be adjudged leg-before.

Yousuf's innings

The feature of Yousuf's batting is how quickly he creates room from himself to hit the ball through the off-side field or unwind beautifully to play the pull shot. He was eventually done in by a Kumble flipper three short of hundred. To his credit, Kumble bowled with intensity and there was some reward for him as well. He could have consumed Yousuf (on 81) earlier had Zaheer, at mid-on, anticipated the lofted hit better.

Left-armer R. P. Singh claimed the only other wicket of the day when Afridi top-edged a pull to Sachin Tendulkar, who has recovered well after his collision with Yousuf on Monday.

The destructive Afridi is a cricketing hurricane to the opponent, but then he adds to the cohesion and harmony in the Pakistani side that is evolving as a unit. The pacemen have bowled in the corridor and consistently probed the batsmen; the Bob Woolmer influence is visible here. And the host has wriggled out of pressure situations. On those occasions when the top and middle order have crumbled, the bottom half has held firm; this is the mark of a growing Test side.

`Dravid's tips helped'

With his team facing a tough situation in the remaining two days, coach Greg Chappell said. "A win is probable but I am not sure it is possible. A draw seems more possible."

He said, "We have come back from tough situations in the series after Pakistan put up big scores. We could do it again."

On India, wasting a wonderful opportunity after Pakistan was 39 for six on day one, he said, "We could have done things differently. But we don't have the luxury of going back to change things in this game."

The pitch had eased out he felt but replied "could" when asked whether the quicker Pakistani bowlers could achieve bounce and movement from the pitch.

He said, "Yes we need a genuine fast bowler. Do you know of any?"

Under the circumstances, Chappell felt the Indian attack had done well on the third day.

Faisal Iqbal revealed India captain Rahul Dravid had helped him during the India-Pakistan `A' tour game preceding the Test series. "Dravid gave me tips and it helped," he said.

The Pakistani middle-order batsman, who returned to Test cricket with a century, felt pitch was becoming easier to bat on. "I was under pressure. I had not scored in the first innings. This is my best Test innings," he said.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan — 1st innings: 245.

India — 1st innings: 238.

Pakistan — 2nd innings: S. Butt lbw b Ganguly 53, I. Farhat c Tendulkar b Pathan 57, Younis lbw b Kumble 77, Mohd. Yousuf lbw b Kumble 97, Faisal (batting) 103, S. Afridi c Tendulkar b R.P. Singh 60, A. Razzaq (batting) 44; Extras (b-3, lb-5, nb-11, w-1): 20; Total (for five wkts. in 127 overs) 511.

Fall of wickets: 1-109, 2-122, 3-280, 4-318, 5-402.

India bowling: Pathan 23-3-93-1, Zaheer 26-4-93-0, R.P. Singh 21-1-91-1, Kumble 33-3-136-2, Ganguly 16-1-68-1, Sehwag 1-0-2-0, Tendulkar 7-0-20-0.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail