Kamran, Misbah show heart

All credit to Kamran Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq for their splendid fightback on the third day of the Kolkata Test. It was a very good innings from both the players and Kamran in particular, I thought, played superbly with the straight bat.

Four of his five Test centuries have come against India and I suspect he really loves their bowling.

On Pakistan’s last tour of India too, Kamran played a similar innings at Mohali where he helped to save the match.

This shows that he has a measure of the Indian attack and even on a pitch that is helpful to spinners, he scored runs at regular intervals.

Misbah plays in his own fashion and though his technique can be faulted at times, the way the two buckled down to blunt an upbeat Indian attack today was really commendable.

Both showed their determination to stick to the wicket and when you do that, runs flow automatically. It was a very good lesson for other Pakistan batters, some of whom threw away their wickets even after getting settled in.

The 207 runs that these two have added to the Pakistan score have brought Pakistan back into the match.

Pakistan are still 60-odd runs away from avoiding the follow-on, but the match now bears a very different complexion from the end of the morning’s session.

Unless India bowl Pakistan out quickly tomorrow, I would say the game is headed for a draw. As it stands, the match is very much in the balance, thanks to the two batsmen.

If Pakistan can bat on till lunch tomorrow, no other outcome looks likely. The Indians did not help their cause by dropping a few chances but that is how it goes.

Still, I would say that Pakistan will need to bat the way Kamran and Misbah did today in their second innings - with enough commitment and courage - to make the game safe for the visitors.

Interestingly, the wicket did not do as much as was expected. While the puffs of dust that erupted from the surface yesterday suggested that it would break up and help the slower bowlers, nothing happened to that effect today.

In fact, three of the Pakistan wickets to fall today were gifts, and it took a really good effort late in the day from Harbhajan Singh to remove the well-set Kamran.

I also believe Anil Kumble under-bowled himself today. The pitch was taking some turn and he is India’s premier strike bowler, especially under such conditions.

Unless, there is a physical problem that we are not aware of, the 24-odd overs he gave himself were a few less than he should have bowled otherwise.

Again that might have been his strategy to rotate his bowlers, but he definitely should have been at the Pakistani batsmen today.

In fact, Kumble will be tested further if India manage to bowl Pakistan out within the follow-on score. What decision he takes thereafter will be interesting.

As I said earlier, if Pakistan lose early wickets, this match is most definitely on. But it they get to, say, within 15-20 runs of the follow-on target, it will become a tough call for the Indian captain.

My feeling is that if India strike early, they will ask Pakistan to follow on. That, however, will take some doing since Sami can be a difficult customer to remove and he and Misbah have already had one good partnership in Delhi.

So they understand each other well. But if they are not separated early, the pair might prove a needle in Kumble’s neck.

In one sense, India can be at ease. This is a match they really cannot lose and Pakistan will, at best, be hoping to draw.

Given the fact that they are already leading in the series, it would be better for India to play safe and bat a second time and completely shut Pakistan out. I mean, why lose the initiative in the context of the series?