FAISALABAD, 22 January 2006 — Pakistan took the initiative from India by posting an imposing 379 for four at close of play on the opening day of the second Test here yesterday after Indian seamers Rudra Partap Singh and Zaheer Khan had dismissed the home team openers cheaply for 65.
The home team was placed in this enviable position mainly due to hurricane hitting in the post-tea session by all-rounder Shahid Afridi (85 from 84 balls), which included 11 boundaries and three sixes and an equally aggressive unbeaten knock of 79 by skipper Inzamam ul-Haq.
Pakistan won the toss and Inzamam did not hesitate for a second to opt to bat first on a wicket, which was described as a shade livelier than the one in Lahore.
Earlier, middle-order batsmen vice-captain Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf, both century-makers in the Lahore Test, had added 142 runs for the third wicket partnership to steady the innings from 65 for 2 to 207, before Younis was brilliantly caught by Yuvraj Singh at covers to give debutant R.P. Singh his second Test wicket in only his ninth over of the match.
Earlier Singh, who had replaced the unfit Ajit Agarkar, had got India the much-needed early breakthrough in only the 12th over when Indian captain Rahul Dravid took an easy catch of opener Shoaib Malik (19) to give the left-handed seamer his first Test wicket. Pakistan’s total then was 49.
The visitors struck another blow when Zaheer Khan had Malik’s opening partner Salman Butt (37) caught by M.S.Dhoni in the 19th over of the day. The second wicket fell at 65. Pakistan’s most consistent pair of Younis and Yousuf batted with patience, at times resorting to aggression, taking the total to 207 when Younis became Singh’s second victim. The Pakistani vice-captain, who was unlucky to have missed his double century at 199 in Lahore, made 83 that included 13 boundaries. Just when Pakistan looked like posting another big total that Singh struck again. This time it was Yousuf who was caught by wicketkeeper Dhoni after adding 65 runs to the total of 216 for four.
Inzamam, who was unlucky to be out cheaply (1) in the Lahore Test, after hitting centuries in each innings against England here last month, yesterday looked in tremendous form. He and Afridi added 163 runs for the unbeaten fifth wicket stand and brought the team out of the woods, after young Singh had briefly threatened the innings by snatching three of the four Pakistani wickets that fell during the day.
Both the captains made two changes in the team that drew the first Test. Pakistan brought in seamer Mohammad Asif and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq to replace pace bowlers Mohammed Sami and Rana Naveed ul-Hasan while India opted to strengthen their bowling by including seamers Singh and Zaheer Khan, dropping former captain Saurav Ganguly and the unfit Agarkar.
Pakistan’s decision to drop Naveed for all-rounder Razzaq came-in for some criticism as it was termed a “defensive decision.” Former England and Yorkshire captain Geoffrey Boycott said it was a defensive approach to strengthen the batting. “The home team is afraid of losing the match and the captain is not ready to take chances,” Boycott observed in his pre-match comment on a TV channel. On the other hand India’s decision to fortify the bowling department by having three seamers and two experienced spinners was seen as an attacking posture.
