Nostalgia, Friendship and Cricket: Recalling India's Tour of Pakistan, 2004

Crashing back on earth and learning from defeat

Yuvraj’s maiden Test century vent in vain as Pakistan equalled the series 1-1

The Gaddafi Stadium proved to be lucky for the home side, as everything fell into place for them in the second Test. With young pacer Umar Gul firing on all cylinders, the Indian batsmen found themselves in all sorts of trouble.

Fellow speedsters Shoaib Akhtar & Mohammad Sami gave Gul ample support, with leg-spinner Danish Kaneria also joining the party by bagging a couple of prized wickets. Only a resolute Yuvraj stood in the way, compiling a magnificent maiden Test century, and Irfan Pathan falling short of a first Test fifty.

In response, Pakistan mounted a mighty batting effort, with almost everyone contributing with the willow. Imran Farhat scored a century opening the innings, but it was once again the portly Pakistan skipper who held the innings together with another splendid knock. Valuable contributions also came from Yousuf & Asim Kamal, but Inzamam towered over the rest of his teammates with his complete mastery of the bowling, despite the duo of Pathan & Balaji sharing six wickets between them.

Faced with a huge deficit, India collapsed against Akhtar’s searing pace and Kaneria’s bag of tricks. Young wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel scored a defiant half century, handling both pace and spin adeptly, and an uncharacteristically sedate knock from Sehwag summed up the dilemma the side was caught in. Eventually, they were shut out for 241, and Pakistan knocked off the required 40 runs without a sweat, squaring the series and again sending both teams into another fight to the finish.

Quite a few players did get hot under the collar, but Dravid acknowledged that Pakistan simply played better cricket. Regular skipper Ganguly, out with a back injury sustained during the final ODI, was sorely missed, at least in terms of strategy and aggression. It was time to reflect upon the flaws and work on them if India were to achieve a long-cherished dream of winning a Test series in a different nation.