The final day’s play in a match destined for a draw is invariably one where players look to boost their individual career aggregates, and this one was no different. There was some vogue talk by the commentators that Pakistan would declare and set India a target of between 270 to 300 runs to get in 45 overs or so.
Those who were speculating like that have little or no idea about what Indo-Pak cricket is all about. Why on earth would Pakistan actually give India even an outside chance to go one-up in the series? There was no way their bowlers were going to take all 10 Indian wickets in 45 overs, so why give India a bat at all? Of course, there was no declaration, for though Virender Sehwag was unwell, to score at 6 runs an over on such a flat pitch and fast outfield was not too difficult. Why should Pakistan lose a game in which they scored nearly 600 runs in the first innings?
The Pakistanis batted on throughout the day as Younis Khan got another century but missed a double for the second consecutive Test and Mohammad Yousuf also got a century and was out in the only way it looked possible, a run-out. Younis Khan is to this Indian team what Zaheer Abbas was to the 1978 team and Mudassar Nazar to the 1982 - 83 Indian tourists. All he had to do on this pitch was to put his foot forward and not get over-ambitious.
There was the odd anxious moment against both Kumble and Harbhajan, but apart from that, nothing to worry about. Kamran Akmal missed out on a century when a loose shot cost him his wicket as Kumble took a fine low catch at gully, but Mohammad Yousuf who followed him is too experienced a player to look a gift horse in the mouth. He almost overtook Younis who had a headstart on him as he almost did at Lahore. It is this aspect that the Indians need to think about, for he scores at a fast clip and this gives his bowlers the chance to bowl the opposition out.
That it didn’t happen is due to the resolve of this Indian team. Leading them from the front is the skipper Rahul Dravid as he bats in unfamiliar territory and makes it look like home. He had support from V.V.S Laxman and then Mahendra Singh Dhoni who launched a thrilling counterattack on the Pakistanis and shook them up when they thought that he could be intimidated by verbals and the short ball.
Pakistan’s openers are the ones who haven’t got too many runs while India’s problem is the middle order, though it is really unfair to call it a problem when they have had just one innings in the series so far.
Both Tendulkar and Yuvraj have enough class to come good and it’s not a major worry at all, through some trying to bring a dead game alive may suggest so. Like those ‘experts’ who were talking of a declaration by Pakistan, they know little about the game. It was another Test match for the statistician and Karachi may not be too different. After all, it’s the home ground of the original little master, Hanif Mohammad, who grew up batting on those pitches.
