CALCUTTA, FEB 16: Even as the lights faded to a shade of pale yellow at the Eden Gardens today and Javagal Srinath stepped out with five wickets in his pocket, the Pakistani camp remained wrapped under a cloud of intrigue. Why was pace spearhead Waqar Younis omitted from the playing XI? Did the Pakistanis lose half the battle before the toss itself? And, why did Akram elect to field on a pitch on which Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad simply munched through their wafer-like batting line-up?The answers finally seeped in long after India had wrapped up the first day of the Asian Test Championships at 26 for one against Pakistan's first innings mark of 185.Apparently, Waqar did not want to play under a coach who trashed his credibility before the inquiry commission probing the betting scandal in Pakistan. Some of the senior Pakistani players are also said to have confronted Javed Miandad yesterday after his testimony against them hit the newstands here yesterday. Besides, the timing of the news break is saidto have completely shattered the visitors' morale much before the toss itself.To complete an eminently forgettable Tuesday for Pakistan, their middle order pivot Inzamam-ul-Haq was forced to sit out with a stiff back. So, what we saw today was a nervous Pakistani line-up sinking to 26-6 in just nine overs before a late order rescue act evened out things a bit.Indeed, Akram's faith in his batsmen was baffling on a pitch that had good bounce and seamed through the first hour. Probably, the Pakistani skipper didn't wanted his batsmen to chase a fourth innings total. But all his calculations went up in smoke anyway after Srinath and Prasad combined like never before in a thrilling spell of seam bowling.Srinath, for once, was not carried away by the bounce in the pitch and stuck to a perfect length straight away while Prasad was accurate and as steady as ever. And, the Karnataka combination of fast inswingers spiced with straighter ones and that deadly leg-cutter had the Pakistanis groping like newcomers.Anwar still wouldn't know what happened to that Prasad leg-cutter, Ijaz Ahmed was beaten by Srinath's pace and rookie Wajahatullah Wasti looked a relieved man on his way back. There was even a feeling at that time that Pakistan would hit a new low after their 62 against Australia in Perth in 1981-82.Thankfully, Salim Malik, Moin Khan and Akram clawed out of the hole to prevent what might have been a farcical one-sided affair. Malik seemed desperate to score a few goodwill points in his gritty stand of 84 for the seventh wicket with Moin Khan. But, in the process, the veteran batsmen also looked like a nervous wreck as he stumbled through a series of inside edges and streaky shots in his 210-minute effort of 32.Moin, on the other hand, seemed to be making the most of the situation after a cautious start. He played himself in and then let out a bit of steam through some forceful shots including a huge six of Anil Kumble. In between, he also tried his best to unsettle the Indian close-in cordon with sometypically cheeky body language. Akram was not too far behind as he picked up six fours and a six - this time off Harbhajan Singh - and set up another 63 for the eighth wicket with his deputy.All this while, it seemed the Indian bowling had suddenly lost its cutting edge as skipper Mohammed Azharuddin shuffled them around from both ends. Without an effective yorker both Srinath and Prasad faded away as the late-order batsmen they were bowling to were not technically good enough to get those edges. Kumble too looked quite under pressure after that 10-wicket dream in Delhi and Harbhajan was a definite disappointment. The pitch was not helping the spinners either and the magic break finally came from who else but Sachin Tendulkar.Moin left absolutely disgusted with his fancy cut shot and India were back in the hunt when they should have shut out the Pakistanis at least a 100 runs before they actually did. Nevertheless, the key to the match is still in Azhar's hands as also four bonus points for bowlingout the Pakistanis inside 100 overs. Akram's men, on the other hand, have just one bonus point behind them and a long haul ahead.Toss won by Wasim Akram and elected to batPAKISTAN (first innings)Saeed Anwar b Prasad 0 (12b, 16m)(fast leg cutter pitched on middle and took bails through bad and pad) Shahid Afridi c Mongia b Srinath 8 (6b, 10m, 2x4)Ijaz Ahmed lbw Srinath 1 (7b, 13m)(played across sharp in-cutter that missed bad and hit knee roll)Wajahatullah Wasti c Mongia b Prasad 6 (9b, 14m, 1x4)(hung bat out to get a faint edge off a perfect leg cutter)Yousuf Youhana c Azhar b Srinath 2 (10b, 18m)(half-hearted prod to widish ball, had third slip taking low catch)Salim Malik c Mongia b Srinath 32 (140b, 210m, 4x4)(squared up to outswinger, ball brushed outside edge and thigh)Azhar Mahmood b Srinath 0 (6b, 5m)(played on a fullish ball on off while attempting an airy slog)Moin Khan c Laxman b Tendulkar 70 (207b, 270m, 9x4, 1x6)(guided short straight ball outside off into first slip's hands)Wasim Akram c sub (Kanitkar) b Harbhajan 38 (52b, 82m, 6x4, 1x6)(loftedoff drive pouched at widish long off)Shoaib Akhtar lbw Kumble 4 (13b, 14m)(struck on line with middle stump) as he pushed forward)Saqlain Mushtaq not out 4 (4b, 9m, 1x4)Extras (lb 11, nb 8, w1) 20Total: (76.2 overs, 335m) 185Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Afridi, 2.1 overs), 2-17 (Anwar, 3.2), 3-19 (Ijaz, 4.4), 4-23 (Wasti, 5.5), 5-25 (Youhana, 8.1), 6-26 (A Mahmood, 9.0), 7-110 (Malik, 55.2), 8-173 (Moin, 72.4), 9-177 (Akram, 73.5).Bowling: Srinath 19-4-46-5, Prasad 18-6-27-2, Ganguly 5-2-9-0, Kumble 19.2-8-48-1, Harbhajan 12-2-36-1, Tendulkar 3-1-08-1.INDIA (first innings)Sadagopan Ramesh batting 17 (39b, 55m, 3x4)VVS Laxman b Shoaib 5 (21b, 49m, 1x4)(ball slipped between bat and pad after loose defensive prod)Anil Kumble batting 0 (4b, 5m)Extras (nb 4) 4Total (one wkt, 10 overs) 26Fall of wicket: 1-26 (Laxman, 9.2)Bowling: Akram 5-1-9-0, Shoaib Akhtar 5-1-17-1At lunch: Pak 44 for 6 in 25 oversAt tea: 109 for six in 55 oversBonus points:India 4, Pakistan 1.
