It’s Test cricket that suffers most on such tracks

The Bangalore Test, too, now looks like heading for a draw.

Given the size of India’s first innings total, it will be a creditable result for Pakistan and they have batted well in this match so far.

With just 58 runs needed to avoid the follow-on, we can safely pencil this game down as another no-result.

Though none of the Pakistan batsmen have yet reached a century, as compared to three from the Indian side, it has been a gritty effort.

It was important for the team not to lose a wicket early and Salman Butt and Younis Khan buckled down to the job well.

They were both unlucky to miss out on individual hundreds, but they achieved the first task, of consolidation, extremely well, especially in the morning session.

Younis, in particular, looked in good nick to reach yet another century at this venue — the last time he batted here, the Pakistan captain came away with a mammoth 267 — but a fleeting lapse in judgement cost him his wicket.

The reverse sweep is always a tricky shot even for a well-set batsman, simply because if the bowler is on target and you miss, you are gone.

That was to be the only wicket for Harbhajan Singh, while Anil Kumble had no luck at all, throughout the day.

In a sense I can understand the lack of urgency on the part of the Indians. They are ahead in the series and have piled up a huge score here, big enough to ensure that they cannot lose this game, and it is entirely up to Pakistan to make the running.

With the wicket not providing any assistance to the bowlers, Pakistan batsmen played themselves in.

Clearly they have assessed the situation well, in that the ball occasionally keeps low and are countering that with a big forward stride that makes it extremely difficult for the umpires to call a leg-before decision. 

All the batsmen were rapped on the pads time and again, but because they are taking that big first stride, it largely negates the LBW danger. What they must remember is to make sure they are attempting to play the ball.

Umpires, nowadays, are more ready to pull the trigger if a batsman does not look like he is trying to play a stroke, but by and large the umpiring in this Test match has been up to the mark.

Misbah-ul Haq and Kamran Akmal now have the job of first trying to knock off the 58 runs to avert the follow-on, and then built up the Pakistan total as close towards the Indian score as is possible.

They have another ally in Mohammad Sami, who has not been able to do much with the ball in this series, but certainly has displayed buckets of determination with a bat in hand.

Unless something dramatic happens to this wicket overnight, I doubt that the Indian spinners will manage to extract anything from the surface.

It is extremely reminiscent of the track at Kolkata, and though Salman Butt managed to spin one ball right across the face of Irfan Pathan’s bat yesterday, there has been absolutely no sign of support to the spinners thereafter.

It suggests to me that we will see — in all likelihood — a big Pakistan reply to India’s total before the match peters out.