Irfan Pathan celebrates with teammates (X-ICC) On this day, 20 years ago, Karachi witnessed one of the strangest and most memorable opening days in the long, fiery history of India vs. Pakistan.It started with mistrust. The very first over of the match, on the opening morning of the series decider, and Irfan Pathan has already made history. Three balls. Three goals. A hat trick. Pakistan reeling at 0-3, the National Stadium stunned into silence. When the dust settled a few overs later and the scoreboard read 39 for 6, the game looked all but over. India arrived in Karachi with momentum and belief. Pakistan looked broken.
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And yet cricket has a way of laughing at certainty.Kamran Akmal emerged from the wreckage. What followed was an innings that refused to follow the script. Attacking as if survival itself was an affront, Akmal struck with fearless intent against a rampant Indian attack. He found support in Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar, who chipped in with valuable cameos of 45 each, but this was clearly Akmal’s phase. His brilliant 113 did much more than save Pakistan. It shifted the emotional balance of the match and ultimately earned him the Man of the Match award. By the stumps on the opening day, India knew they had let something slip. Pakistan finished on 245 in their first innings with Irfan Pathan taking five wickets, RP Singh three and Zaheer Khan two.However, India failed to capitalize. They were bowled out for 238 in reply, with Yuvraj Singh top-scoring with 45. The advantage now regained by Pakistan began to grow.In their second innings, Pakistan blasted India out of the contest, amassing a mammoth 599 for 7 declared. Faisal Iqbal scored a stupendous 139 while Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Yousuf both fell agonizingly short of centuries and scored fluent 90s, further crushing India’s hopes.Four days later, Pakistan sealed a stunning 341-run victory. The spread indicated dominance. The reality was much more distorted. The win also gave Pakistan a 1–0 lead in the three-match Test series, with the first two Tests ending in draws.Chasing an impossible 607 or trying to bat in 164 overs, India’s final collapse was brutal and swift. They lasted just 58.4 overs. Only Yuvraj Singh, with a brilliant 122, offered meaningful resistance in a hopeless situation. It became India’s second heaviest Test defeat, surpassed only by Australia’s defeat at Nagpur a few months earlier.To understand how the match went, we have to go back to that opening shot and what followed.Pakistan’s fast bowlers ensured that India never fully recovered from the shock of Akmal’s defiance. Shoaib Akhtar batted first and removed Rahul Dravid with sheer pace and menace. Mohammad Asif then came into limelight. At the time, Asif was only 23 and played with precision and finesse that drew comparisons to Glenn McGrath. He moved the ball both ways at a lively pace and asked questions that the Indian top order could not answer.Virender Sehwag was destroyed by a move back into it. VVS Laxman fell to one that shaped just right. Sachin Tendulkar showed flashes of defiance, hitting and pulling Shoaib with authority, ducking away from the bouncers and briefly threatening a comeback. That didn’t last. Asif produced one that stayed low and hit mid-stump, leaving Tendulkar lying on the turf.There were moments of resistance. Sourav Ganguly drove with elegance. Yuvraj Singh played with rare freedom and attacked even as the situation deteriorated. He reached his fifty in just 45 balls, unfazed by the attacking fields and relentless pressure. A toppled catch on 77 offered a fleeting hope, but Pakistan never conceded.Abdul Razzaq made sure the hope didn’t last long. Ganguly was trapped, Dhoni fell while driving and Irfan Pathan was sped by the bounce. Dane Kaneria cleaned his tail. Razzaq fittingly ended the match by having Yuvraj caught behind to end a solitary, brilliant innings amid the ruins. India were bowled out for 265.In the end, the match was a reminder of how cruel and glorious Test cricket can be. India had Pakistan six down for 39 on the first morning, still trailing by 341 runs. Pakistan were rattled early and responded with resilience, skill and ruthless execution. Younis Khan, who amassed 553 runs across the series, was deservedly named the player of the series.Twenty years later, that day in Karachi remains a lesson in humility. In Test cricket, nothing is decided in the first over. Or even the first session.
