Their effort might not rank along with the Indian counterparts for the grace, but it was clad with the soul-stirring element of bravery.

It was also a display of Pakistan's indomitable spirit that often shines bright under difficult circumstances as they made a stirring comeback into the second Test on the third day. The visitors needed to score 417 runs to avoid follow-on, and despite suffering some early blows they managed to score 358 for six at close, still 258 runs behind. With Pakistan needing a further 59 runs to avoid follow-on and only four wickets in their hand, India firmly hold the saddle of the match.

It was the sort of fight back that Pakistan have been reputed and feared for. It was once again Akmal, who was at the forefront of the rescue mission, slamming a supremely composed hundred.

For the record, it was his fifth Test hundred and fourth against India. A couple of years back, Akmal had performed a great escape act for Pakistan in the company of Abdul Razzaq in Mohali. Akmal had a different partner on the day in Misbah-ul-Haq, who also notched up his maiden Test hundred.

The sixth-wicket partnership worth 207 runs was what exactly Pakistan wanted on the day. Akmal had already shown his adhesive qualities in the past, but the wicketkeeper batsman was under immense pressure in this series after a patchy performance in front and behind the wicket.

Finger injury
Pakistan team management had even drafted in young wicketkeeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed under the pretext of a finger injury to Akmal. The first Test in Ferozeshah Kotla too had not hinted a change in the trend, and the situation in which Akmal walked into the middle on the day too was not suitable for an out-of-form batsman.

But the pint-sized batsman overcame the demons in his mind, and a group of persistent Indian bowlers to keep the hopes of his team alive. He never looked to be under self-doubt that appeared to nag him earlier in the series, and played with a lot of assurance.

There were a few flashes outside the off-stump in the beginning, but soon, he found his rhythm to frustrate the Indians. Even the luck was on his side as Munaf Patel dropped a catch at fine-leg off Zaheer Khan when the batsman was approaching his hundred.

Sensing the early apprehension of Akmal, Misbah took the initiative, lessening the burden on his partner. Misbah was in fine fettle as he picked up gap with ease, and punished anything that was remotely wide of the off-stump. Even Anil Kumble, normally a parsimonious customer, was not spared as Misbah waded into the Indian attack with some splendid shots.

Misbah too received a reprieve when Sachin Tendulkar grassed an uppish slog sweep off Kumble at mid-wicket, just after he had crossed his fifty. The mistake made him cautious as he avoided any risks thereafter and played circumspectly. Akmal overtook his partner at that stage, and reached the three figure mark with a boundary off Zaheer.

Akmal kissed the turf and then melted into the embrace of Misbah in celebration, and the latter too did not take it long to reach the three-figure mark, though it was not easy like his partner.

The pressure of scoring a maiden Test hundred seemed to choke Misbah as there was a couple of hit and misses against Zaheer.

Anxious wait
But soon, he ended the anxious wait when he turned Kumble to square-leg boundary to fetch the all important runs. The partnership appeared to carry Pakistan through the day, but Harbhajan Singh spun one past the defence of Akmal to rattle the timber.

Earlier, Pakistan’s frontline batsmen did not show the qualities of Akmal and Misbah as they appeared to have been carried away by the perfect batting track. However, Mohammad Yousuf, received the ball of the day, a huge spinning off-spinner from Harbhajan that castled him.

Younis Khan played an atrocious shot against Munaf for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to complete a simple catch behind the stumps, as Pakistan looked a lot vulnerable with two of their long innings players back to the pavilion. But it was just a prelude to the Akmal-Misbah epic.


Score board
INDIA (I Innings):  616/5 decl
PAKISTAN (I Innings O/n: 50/1)
Butt c Dravid b Harbhajan 42
(104m, 86b, 6x4)
Hameed lbw Kumble 21
(37m, 23b, 4x4)
Younis c Dhoni b Patel 43
(122m, 82b, 5x4, 1x6)
Yousuf b Harbhajan 6
(10m, 12b, 1x4)
Misbah (batting) 108
(323m, 204b, 10x4)
Iqbal lbw Kumble 0
(10m, 11b)
Akmal b Harbhajan 119
(259m, 210b, 20x4)
Sami (batting) 0
(5m, 3b)
Extras (B-4, LB-7, W-1, NB-7) 19

Total (for 6 wkts, 104 overs) 358
Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Hameed), 2-77 (Butt), 3-85 (Yousuf), 4-134 (Younis), 5-150 (Iqbal), 6-357 (Akmal)
Bowling: Zaheer 20.2-4-65-0 (nb-5), Munaf 16-4-77-1 (w-1), Harbhajan 31.4-8-86-3 (nb-1), Kumble 27-6-81-2 (nb-1), Tendulkar 7-1-32-0, Ganguly 2-1-6-0.