India Vs. Pak Test - Day 1

Who would have imagined India''s recovery from 60 odd runs when almost half of the team was sent back to the pavilion? And who were among those sent back? Last match''s double centurian Wasim Jaffer and centurian VVS Laxman - both dismissed cheaply this time. The Wall too could not resist the attack and crumbled. And who dismissed all these star cricketers? A debutant seamer. Yasif Arafat - the same Arafat who important document had gone missing some weeks before. When the fourth wicket fell for 61, Younis Khan, the stand-in skipper might have seen some hopes of disallowing the Men in Blue - but presently white - of not winning a series for nearly 28 years. The last time was when under Sunil Gavaskar, the Indians had comprihensivly beaten the Pakis. The reason why Younis Khan might have had hopes is that India already were 61/4, and another major reason can be the great Sachin Tendulkar and the corageous M S Dhoni are not playing the last match due to injuries.
But destiny had some other things in mind. The comeback boy & One Day specialist Yuvraj Singh - playing his first Test match almost after more than a year and his only Test in 2007 - stood upto the test. Hammering a fluent hundred - as he always does, and with a better strike rate than Ganguly - saw India through really tough tough times. His 169 - his third Test century of the career, all of which have come against the arch rivals, was a masterpiece in itself. He took the game to the opposition, knowing that offence is the best sort of defence. Those who were lucky enough to watch his game, will for long remember this very very special century. Another centurian of the last drawn match, Ganguly, too looked in a fine touch. Classy as he is, he was a treat to watch for any Indian fan. These two not only took India out of the woods, but also put her in the driver''s seat, dictating terms on the opposition bowlers. From a precariously placed 61/4, India was well placed 361/5 when the fifth wicked fell in the form of Yuvraj. till then a record was created for the fifth wicket for a whopping 300 runs. The fightback was led by both the southpaws amassing 127 runs in the afternoon session and 173 in the last. Yuvraj and Ganguly might well see a record created almost after more than a quarter century on home soil winning both the ODI and the Test series.