Jaffer nears double ton, India in control

Local hero Sourav Ganguly 17 was giving Jaffer company when play was called off early due to bad light with 5.3 overs still remaining to be bowled.

Electing to bat, the Indians lost opener Dinesh Kaarthick 1 cheaply but the other batsmen made the most of the ideal batting track at the Eden Gardens to put the team in the driver8217;s seat.

Jaffer seemed to be in imperious form as he first added 136 runs with Dravid for the second wicket and then stitched 175 runs for the third wicket with Tendulkar against an insipid Pakistani bowling attack.

Pakistan8217;s gamble to include Shoaib Akhtar, who had not fully recovered from a viral infection, proved quite costly as the temperamental fast bowler could manage to bowl just nine overs during the day.

None of the Pakistani bowlers could really make much of an impact as the Indians scored at a brisk pace to compound the misery for stand-in captain Younis Khan, who led the team after Shoaib Malik was ruled out of the match because of an ankle injury.