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| January 14, 2006 | Saturday | Zilhaj 13, 1426 |
Younis and Yousuf make India toil in perfect conditions
LAHORE, Jan 13: Pakistan, powered by a flawless undefeated 147 from Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf’s 95 not out, dominated the opening day’s proceedings against India in the first Test at Qadhafi Stadium on Friday.
Younis’s penchant for hammering the Indian bowling continued where he had left off when the two arch rivals met in India last year where he amassed 508 runs in three Tests, hitting two centuries including his highest Test score of 267 at Bangalore.
Younis’s 10th century in 40 Tests has so far included 19 fours off 242 deliveries.
Yousuf, the aggressor of the duo in the unbroken third-wicket stand of 190, had one lucky escape on 90. Virender Sehwag put down a regulation catch at gully off Ajit Agarkar, who took the second new ball. A pulled six off Anil Kumble and eleven fours have been Yousuf’s principal strokes.
The manner in which both Younis and Yousuf toyed with the Indian bowlers suggested that the pair was capable of heaping further misery on the tourists when play resumes on Saturday.
When umpires came to the rescue of the hapless Indians five overs still remained to be bowled as the light became increasingly poor.
But nothing should be taken away from Pakistan for taking advantage of superb batting conditions to pile up 326 for two in 85 overs.
Barring a dramatic collapse, Pakistan are set for a mammoth first innings total and are virtually assured of at least not losing the match at this stage.
The Indians were on the back foot from the moment Inzamamul Haq won the toss and without hesitation opted to bat on a strip devoid of grass, something which surprised the pundits as Pakistan’s strength lies in their pace attack headed by world’s fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
The only joy for Indians came early in Pakistan’s innings when opener Salman Butt was run out for six by a brilliant direct hit from Yuvraj Singh with the home team 12 rubs on the board.
From then onwards Younis and Shoaib Malik, again opening the innings, made Indian attack look pedestrian with the pitch offering no assistance whatsoever to the seamers or the spinners.
The wicket was so placid that Indian skipper Rahul Dravid had to introduce trump card spinners Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble before lunch as both Irfan Pathan and Agarkar hardly beat the bat in their opening spells.
Both Pathan and Agarkar, who looked no more than military medium, lacked the fire as Younis and Shoaib Malik put on 124 for the second wicket until the latter played a loose stroke off the former to be well caught by Harbhajan at cover when a century was up for grabs. Shoaib hit seven fours and one six.
It was the only wicket the Indian bowlers managed in the entire day’s play. This illustrated the total mastery of the willow over the leather and the bankruptcy of Indian attack.
Kumble and Harbhajan, normally so destructive on spin-oriented Indian tracks, were treated with disdain by the Pakistani batsmen and one can remember either of them beating the bat as Shoaib Malik, Younis and Yousuf scored at will.
Pakistan’s scoring rate during the first two sessions was over three runs an over. Younis and Yousuf, however, cut loose after the tea break to plunder 106 off only 20 overs, a rate of well over five runs an over.
There was no surprise in Pakistan’s final eleven. The Indians, however, went into the match without a regular opening batsman to partner Sehwag. The visitors also decided to go with only two seamers and two specialist spinners with Saurav Ganguly sparingly employed as third seamer.
Scoreboard
PAKISTAN (1st Innings):
Shoaib Malik c Harbhajan b Pathan 59
Salman Butt run out 6
Younis Khan not out 147
Mohammad Yousuf not out 95
EXTRAS (LB-10, W-1, NB-8) 19
TOTAL (for two wkts, 85 overs) 326
FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-136.
TO BAT: Inzamamul Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Rana Navedul Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria.
BOWLING (to-date): Irfan Pathan 21-3-76-1 (2nb); Agarkar 15-3-59-0 (1w); Ganguly 6-1-14-0 (3nb); Harbhajan Singh 16-4-64–0; Kumble 23-1-92-0 (3nb); Sehwag 4-0-11-0.
INDIA: V. Sehwag, R. Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, S.R. Tendulkar, S.C. Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, A.B. Agarkar, A. Kumble, Harbhajan Singh.
UMPIRES: D.B. Hair (Australia) and R.E. Koertzen (South Africa).
TV UMPIRE: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).
MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
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