Faisalabad Farce

Pakistan's vice-captain Younis Khan produced a sparkling 194 to continue his sequence of big knocks against India as the second Test petered out into a dreary draw today.

The 28-year-old Younis, who has repeatedly tormented India by hitting big centuries, teamed up with Mohammad Yousuf (126) to pile the misery on the hapless bowlers with their fireworks before the Pakistani second innings folded up on 490 towards the fag end of the day.

With 14 mandatory overs still remaining, India went into bat and scored 21 no loss before play was finally called off.

Younis, who had missed his double ton by just one run in the first Test in Lahore, fell short of the milestone for the second successive time in the series.

The home team batsmen again had a field day as they found runs easy to come by on the placid track at the Iqbal stadium which provided no assistance to the bowlers even though it was the fifth day.

The 242-run third wicket partnership between Younis and Yousuf was the highlight of the final day's play which was reduced to an academic interest after the hosts preferred not to declare their second innings.

Kamran Akmal (78) and Abdul Razzak (33) were the other notable contributors to the Pakistan innings which saw an element of drama when five wickets fell in a clutter towards the fag end of the day when nothing was at stake.

With the first two Tests ending in tame draws, the focus will now shift to the port city of Karachi where the series-deciding game will unfold from January 29.

Zaheer Khan took four of the five wickets that fell towards the end to inject some drama in the dull proceedings. The left-arm speedster took his four wickets in ten balls while conceding only two runs.

India, who led by 15 runs in the first innings by scoring 603 in reply to Pakistan's 588, had to bat out the remaining time. Skipper Rahul Dravid (5) and VVS Laxman (8), who opened the innings in place of the indisposed Virender Sehwag who did not field at all in the Pakistan innings, were unbeaten at the end.

Debutant R P Singh was declared man of the match for taking four wickets in the first innings on a batsman-friendly pitch.

Earlier, Younis cracked 22 fours and a six in his 454-minute essay during which he faced 299 balls.

Yousuf, dropped at 4 and 78, made 126, slamming four sixes and 11 fours in his 232-ball knock before being run out by Gautam Gambhir, substituting for Sehwag.

The run out of the 31-year-old Yousuf, ended his third wicket partnership with Younis after the pair had raised 242 runs in 232 minutes and 316 balls.

The duo had put on 142 runs in the Pakistan first innings with Younis making 83 and Yousuf 65, after compiling a massive 319-run stand in the only innings of the drawn first Test at Lahore for the third wicket.

It was the 13th drawn Test out of 24 at this venue that began hosting international cricket in 1978, the revival series between the two arch-rivals after nearly two decades.

The 25th match between Zimbabwe and Pakistan had been abandoned without a ball being bowled due to fog in 1998.

India have never won a Test in five attempts at this venue, while drawing four and losing their 1978 encounter.

Today the two Ys once again exposed the inadequacies of the visiting team's bowling attack, having five frontline bowlers but which hardly made any impression on the flat track.

The two senior Pakistani batsmen flayed the bowling attack, with Yousuf lofting Harbhajan Singh for two sixes and Anil Kumble and Yuvraj Singh for one each, to entertain the packed house which sat through the proceedings.

It was also Younis' fourth hundred in five Tests against India, and 11th overall in 41 Tests while it was Yousuf's fourth in 11 Tests against India and 16th in 64 matches.

The two batsmen had hit centuries, Younis scoring 199 and Yousuf 173, when they put on a massive 319-run stand for the third wicket in the only innings of the drawn first Test at Lahore.

Younis (83) and Yousuf (65) had added 142 runs, also for the third wicket, in the Pakistan first innings.

The Indian bowling was caned to all parts of the field by the two batsmen though Yousuf survived two chances during his knock. He was dropped on 4 by Kumble at gully off Rudra Pratap.

He was grassed again by Dravid in the slips when the batsman edged off the unlucky Harbhajan later. Yousuf was then on 78 with Pakistan on 316 for two. The off-spinner looked distraught at this lapse, which came after fruitless toil on a dead pitch.

In between these lucky escapes, Yousuf was in his elements as he cut, drove and pulled the bowlers for runs. He also swungHarbhajan for a six over long on before meting out a similar treatment to Kumble.

Later, he hoisted Harbhajan for another six over long on before reaching his 100 in 192 minutes and off 151 balls. It contained 9 fours and 3 sixes.

Younis batted with complete control. He was hardly troubled by any bowler and looked totally at ease.

It was the Pathan's second hundred of the series following his narrow miss in scoring a double hundred in the opener, only thesecond from his country to miss the feat by a run against India after Mudassar Nazar.

Younis raced to his century in 180 balls, after starting the day at 64 in the company of wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who made 78 before being dismissed by Irfan Pathan.

The third wicket partners piled on the agony in the second period of play.

They held complete sway to force India totally on the defensive. Rudra Pratap bowled outside the leg stump with a packed on-side field as cover while Kumble bowled round the wicket with a packed off side.

With the match having turned into a farce, even wicket keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave up his gloves to Dravid and bowled an over with the second new ball.

Zaheer then struck two late blows with the new ball to send back Razzaq (32) and Shahid Afridi (1) before Rudra Pratap trapped Younis plumb in front.

Off the first and fourth balls of his next over, Zaheer dismissed Mohammed Asif and Danish Kaneria for 0 to bringa closure to the innings as captain Inzamam-ul Haq, nursing a back injury, and the absent Shoaib Malik did not bat.

PTI