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BANGALORE - Pakistan made a cautious start after Saurav Ganguly and Irfan Pathan blasted their maiden double hundred and century respectively to help India to a first innings total of 626 in the third and final test today.
The visitors were 86 for one at stumps on day two with opener Salman Butt on a defiant 50 and Younis Khan on seven after Yasir Hameed departed for 19.
Left-handed Ganguly hit 239 and shared in a 178-stand for the seventh wicket with Pathan (102) to strengthen the home side's grip on the match after resuming at a confident 365-5.
The 35-year-old former captain Ganguly, playing in his 99th test, and Yuvraj Singh (169) had added 300 runs for the fifth wicket to help the hosts recover on the first day after electing to bat.
Ganguly and left-handed Pathan, playing his first test in more than a year, scored runs at a blistering pace as the hosts ran up a first-innings total of more than 600 for a second successive match.
Resuming on 125, Ganguly took his overnight sixth-wicket stand with Dinesh Karthik (24) to 66 before Karthik became the fourth of debutant pacer Yasir Arafat's five victims in the innings.
India are 1-0 up in the series after winning the opening test by six wickets in New Delhi.
Pakistan's hopes of restricting India were hampered when spearhead Shoaib Akhtar was unable to bowl until he had spent as much time on the field as he had stayed off it on Sunday.
The injury-prone fast bowler left the field after lunch on the opening day after complaining of back pain.
Arafat, who took three early wickets to reduce the hosts to 61-4 on the opening day, had Karthik caught behind, but the ineffective attack was put to the sword thereafter.
Ganguly, who scored a century in the drawn second test, was solid in the morning and then opened up with a series of breathtaking shots as he pulled and drove Arafat for boundaries and hit leg spinner Danish Kaneria for two sixes.
He reached his double hundred with a two off Arafat through covers and raised his arms in celebration.
He hit 30 fours and two sixes in his 361-ball knock before being bowled while trying to sweep Kaneria.
Pathan batted fluently for his century and struck part-time spinner Salman Butt and Kaneria for two sixes each.
Pathan, who also hit 10 boundaries, gave Kaneria a difficult caught and bowled chance just before tea.
Skipper Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh departed with Pathan in his 90s, but last-man Ishant Sharma stood firm as Pathan reached his century with a six off Kaneria before edging the leg spinner behind.
Leg spinner Anil Kumble trapped Hameed leg before with the team on 59, but pugnacious Butt, who hit the leg spinner for two boundaries in an over, and stand-in skipper Younis made sure the hosts made no further progress.
The visitors need 341 more runs to avoid the follow-on.
- REUTERS
