Cricket fans gathered at Mohali on Saturday, the concluding day of the first Test, expecting an easy Indian victory. Instead, they were witness to a superb fightback by Pakistan, inspired two players, who were, quite literally, fighting for places in the side.
Diminutive wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq put on a 184-run partnership of the highest order to earn Pakistan a creditable draw in the Test, something, at the end of day 4, many thought was impossible.
Most, including Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq, felt the team had no chance of saving the match. One couldn't blame them, really.
On Pakistan's recent tour of Australia, Razzaq had averaged just 15.00 and Akmal did even worse, scoring just 77 runs at 12.83.
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Before the team for the India tour was selected many former Pakistan cricketers had suggested that Moin Khan (for his batting) or Rashid Latif (for his keeping) should replace Akmal. Razzaq, on the other hand, was struggling with bat and ball and lacked the penetration of old.
But, somehow, both came together to script one of Pakistan cricket's greatest fightbacks.
"It was simple for us. I told Akmal to play his shots but remember that it is not runs that will make the difference but the time we spend in the middle will. So, it is okay to cut out on a few risky shots like the sweep or the hook. We had to cut out all the risks. A wicket at that point would have given India an easy victory. I told him to guard his wicket with his life," said Razzaq.
The two batsmen do have one thing in common: they both play for Lahore, and Razzaq feels that helped a lot.
"He has played under my captaincy for the Lahore team and we have some very big 250-300 runs partnerships. So we knew it could be done. Akmal understands me and I understand him," said the Pakistan all-rounder.
"The trick here was that we just didn't want to bat for a short while. Most Pakistan batsmen tend to score 40-50 runs and then get out. We had to bat for at least 40 to 50 overs," he added.
Razzaq's batting was superb. Of late, he has established a reputation as a hard-hitting batsman, only bothered about playing the big shots. On Saturday we saw a different side of him. Starting the day on 22, he progressed to 44 by lunch as he dug in for a grim battle.
The last time Razzaq played in this manner was during the 1999 World Cup in England, when he batted at number three. Then, he was given the responsibility of batting through the fifty overs.
"Situation hi aisa tha [was like that]. Drawing the Test was as good as a win for us. Runs karke koi faydaa nahi tha. Hamein match save karma tha. Yehi hamara target tha [Making runs was of no use. We had to save the match; that was our target].
"We were in such a bad position overnight that nobody thought we had a chance. If we would have lost, the morale would have gone really down. As it is, in an India-Pakistan series, every match is big. We could not afford to lose the first Test. It would have been very difficult then to recover."
Razzaq also felt that while the Indian bowling was good, it was not quite at its best on the fifth day.
"[Laxmipathy] Balaji has been their [India's] best bowler. Irfan and Zaheer ke liye itna accha match nahi raha. Balaji ne acchi bowling kari aur usse wicket bhi mili [The match was not very good for Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan. Balaji bowled very well and he also got wickets.] "
