Wasim Jaffer pummeled the Pakistan bowlers on day 1 of the second test at Eden gardens, Kolkatta, with an absolutely brilliant 192*, to take India to 352/3 at the end of the day’s play.

The day started with plenty of melodramatics from Shoaib Akhtar, who on a normal day when he is so-called fit, runs out of steam in 3 overs, was now attempting to bowl with his viral infection and ended up giving Pakistan a huge liability to face with. It was like a “bold and the the beautiful” soap serial with all the dramatics. And somehow a similar situation happened at the last series when Pakistan played with India to a point where PCB even questioned the legality of Akhtar’s injury back then, which interestingly, Akhtar had got a certificate stating injury from a doctor from none other than Imran Khan’s hospital. Nevertheless today, how plainly more stupid can it get. If a bowler is in such a bad shape, it is absolutely stupid on the part of the team think-tank and Akhtar himself to take the field and the consequence was Shoaib bowling below par and Pakistan had a huge liability to face without a bowler, on an absolutely flat docile pitch that seem to have no assistance whatsoever.

Dinesh Karthik once again went cheaply in the same fashion as in the last test. He is a good batsman but it was clear that he doesn’t seem to have learnt from his earlier mistake and did not want to leave the ball early on outside the stumps. He keeps getting dismissed very early in the innings in a similar fashion, even in the ODIs and the local league matches. There is no doubt that he is a poor starter and therefore he needs to control his urge to dab at everything early on until he gets his eye in. When he gets through the initial phase, he turns out to be quite a decent batsman for India.

And the highlight of the day was Wasim Jaffer’s majestic innings… What a hammering he gave to the Pakistani bowlers. It was almost like a one-day innings and so gracefully packed with sublime touches and timing, rather than employing brute force. Many consider him a boring batsman and the Indian media doesn’t go all nuts about him because he maintains a low profile but he has been a prolific run scorer for India since his debut. In his short career, he has scored centuries and a few doubles against all the oppositions India has played and in all conditions, home and away. That pretty much sums up why is one of the best things that has happened to India for the test cricket team. Jaffer either gets out cheaply or scores a biggie and the first test was disappointing to see him get a great start and throw it away. He looked in great touch then and he followed it today with a stunning innings of 192* in just 255 balls with a strike-rate of 75.29 and with a stunning 32 boundaries, which were all so gracefully dispatched. I really wish he gets his double tomorrow as he quite deserves it.

Rahul Dravid played well for his 50, lucky to escape from a plum run-out due to poor fielding, which reflected through out the day for Pakistan. He was unlucky with a bad decision given to a Danish Kaneria delivery but Kaneria bowled an absolute beauty to Sachin Tendulkar, a wrong one and knocked his stumps for 82.

Rao Iftikhar Anjum should have played this match. I find it strange that he doesn’t feature much in Pakistani cricket. He bowls an impeccable line and length, is often in his career their most economical bowler and is someone they need to nurture. The problem lies with Pakistan’s forever obsession for Pace and reverse swing that their vision don’t seem to look beyond this. Now with Akhtar providing the much expected liability and a demoralized bowling attack where the highlight was Sohail Tanvir, ridiculously bowling spin for a few overs, pretty much sums things up.

However, the pitch is flat and a batting paradise. If Pakistan just bats normally without any major heroics, we will most likely see a draw in hand.