Tour match: Pakistan A v Indians (7–9 January) Match drawn The Indians won the toss and chose to bat at the
Bagh-e-Jinnah in
Lahore, and in 77 overs on the first day, they made 298 for four after half-centuries from
Gautam Gambhir,
Wasim Jaffer,
Rahul Dravid and
Sachin Tendulkar.
V. V. S. Laxman and
Yuvraj Singh retired after making half-centuries on the second day, and after 27 second-day overs the tourists declared 414 ahead. The Indian seamers
Ajit Agarkar and
Irfan Pathan got a wicket each in their opening spell, but a 162-run stand between
Imran Farhat and
Hasan Raza closed the gap. Pathan eventually broke the partnership when Raza, the captain of Pakistan A, was caught behind for 75 off 62 balls, and Farhat was also out shortly afterwards, ending with 107.
Faisal Iqbal made 87 for Pakistan A on the final day before they declared on 358 for 9, and Gambhir and Jaffer batted out 13 overs before the game was declared a draw. ----
First Test Day 1 Pakistan won the toss, and after losing
Salman Butt in a
run out with the thirteenth ball of the match, but as
Irfan Pathan was the only one to take a wicket, Pakistan built a lead of 326 on the first day of the match in
Lahore. The BBC described their batsman as "dominating India" in a headline, with
Shoaib Malik,
Younis Khan and
Mohammad Yousuf all passing fifty on the first day.
Sourav Ganguly returned for India, after being left out of the ODI side on recent tours, and the former captain saw action in the first session when he was called upon to bowl four overs of medium pace, Pakistan won the toss, batting first to reach 4/379 at stumps with
Inzamam-ul-Haq &
Shahid Afridi approaching centuries, on 79 and 85 respectively. On a tough day for bowling, R. P. Singh made a promising debut, taking three wickets.
Day 2 Play resumed on day two with Razzaq replacing Inzamam, who was confined to the dressing room due to a back injury. Afridi reached 156 from just 128 deliveries before being dismissed, ending a combined partnership of 257 with Inzamam and Razzaq. Inzamam returned to complete his century (119), and free-spirited hitting on a benign pitch by
Shoaib Akhtar (47) allowed Pakistan to reach 588. R. P. Singh took 4/89, the best bowling figures. India started their reply confidently until
Virender Sehwag (31) was dismissed. Captain
Rahul Dravid (46*)and
V. V. S Laxman (28*) proceeded cautiously to end the day at 1/110.
Day 3 Laxman and Dravid batted fluently throughout the first session to reach lunch at 83 and 97 respectively. India suffered a collapse after lunch, losing 4/45 as Laxman (90), Dravid (103, run out),
Sachin Tendulkar (14, walking despite replays suggesting he missed the ball) and
Yuvraj Singh (4) were all dismissed. However,
MS Dhoni (116*) and
Irfan Pathan (49*) counter-attacked to save the follow-on to close at 5/441.
Day 4 Dhoni and Pathan continued their partnership until Dhoni (148) was stumped trying to loft Kaneria over midwicket, ending a 210-run partnership. Pathan fell short of a century (90), but the tail wagged (
Harbhajan Singh 38, Zaheer Khan 20*) to give India 603, and a slender lead of 15. Pakistan started their second innings confidently, reaching 1/152 at the close with
Younis Khan on 64 and
Kamran Akmal (opening in place of
Shoaib Malik who had returned to
Sialkot to be with his gravely ill father) on 59.
Day 5 Akmal was dismissed on 78, but Younis reached his fourth century in as many Tests against India. Along with
Mohammad Yousuf (126), they added 262 for the third wicket. The loss of Razzaq (32) and Younis (194) caused a collapse of 5/2 reduced Pakistan to 8/490. This was the end of the innings, as both Inzamam and Malik were unavailable to bat. Zaheer Khan took 4/61. India batted 8 overs to reach 0/21 were the match was drawn. As the game faded away, Indian wicket-keeper MS Dhoni and Pakistani batsman Younis Khan, both infrequent bowlers at international level, took the new ball. R. P. Singh was named the Man of the Match, on his debut. ----
Third Test ==ODI series==