And now over to the bowlers

On a flat Multan pitch, Sehwag became India’s first ever triple centurion. And he did it the only way he knows well, in risky and breathtaking manner. To Shabbir Ahmed’s second delivery of the 26th over of the day, Veeru the Dramebaz edged just out of reach of Taufeeq Umar at slip, to take himself to 278. In the next one he cut confidently to the third man boundary, and at 282, he had everyone, including VVS ‘281’ Laxman, delirious.

And thence, the very next ball, it was back to flirtations with danger. He edged on beyond Moin Khan to float ahead to 286. His triple century, however, was brought up clean and crisp. Saqlain Mushtaq, once again toiling against bad form and unhelpful pitch, was carried over long on for a six.

Nine runs later he was back in the shed. In the sum of these strokes was all of Sehwag. All that’s left to make his Multan sojourn complete, he said later, is a five-wicket haul!

For Tendulkar the crucial run — one century ahead of Steve Waugh’s 32 and one behind Sunil Gavaskar’s 34 — was uncharacteristically hit, just like parts of his innings: scrappily. It was stolen off a slight misfield. But amends were made the very next ball from Shabbir: he drove to the extra cover fence for four.

In this day of tumbling records, the big question was, when would India declare? In the end they did the expected thing: the moment Yuvraj Singh perished at 59, with the team total at 675 for five, stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid made the fateful gesture and a declaration was on.

It stranded Sachin at 194, on the brink of his second double hundred of the year and his fourth ever.

In the end India got 16 overs. The frontline bowlers were supplemented with the man of the day, Sehwag. But Pakistan’s openers Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar cruised through the pre-dusk hour to 42, with Sehwag failing to clasp the only close-in chance of the day.

At this stage there are only two likely conclusions to the first match of the series: draw or an India win. To win, India would not only have to make the most of the roughs created by the Pakistani bowlers but count on some assistance from the hosts.

As of now, this pitch is still a batsman’s delight. In fact, at least in the day ahead, Pakistan’s batsmen will not be batting so much against India’s bowlers as against their nerves. It is a crunch situation for Pakistan. They cannot afford to lose the Test right after the one-day loss.

Tomorrow, the crowds are expected to turn up to see local boy Inzaman-ul Haq bat. The desire to evade defeat can be a sportman’s biggest challenge. For Pakistan at the moment that is the only challenge.