Inzamam the inevitable

Quite rightly, Inzamam-ul-Haq takes all the plaudits today. The entrance was much as usual; Pakistan in trouble and Inzamam looking distinctly unworried. And he carried on much the same way from the moment he hit his first boundary, what was little more than a hunched push with a little hop for afters through cover. Once he'd followed it by curtly pulling Lakshmipathy Balaji, and flippantly flicking Irfan Pathan off his hips through square leg, a century - a substantial one - seemed inevitable.

Until he reached his fifty, you scarcely noticed him, such was the surety of his strokeplay, but straight after lunch, he exploded into action. By the time he approached his 21st century, he had settled down again, methodical in his singles and easy in his boundaries. Later he tired, his run-scoring ebbed and flowed, but at no stage did he look troubled. His drives seemed easier and easier to execute, requiring progressively less effort, as the day wore on. This is when he warrants comparisons with the best, when a century seems a foregone conclusion. But because he has threatened precisely this through most of this tour - barring a scratchy second innings effort at Kolkata - somehow the surprise, the allure lessens just a touch.

Inzamam will take the headlines, but spare a thought also for his heir apparent, Younis Khan. He was pilloried, unfairly, after Mohali, a Test in which things could not have gone much worse had he tried. Two horror dismissals, some dropped catches and a forlorn presence on the field, the decision to make him vice-captain immediately seemed flawed.

But they overlooked his form since his return to the side against Sri Lanka last October. That day, also in collusion with Inzamam, he had scored a century. On the Australia tour, he finished up as Pakistan's highest scorer. His response to the criticism in Kolkata was emphatic, evidence of the character that has impressed so many. Furthermore, in an admittedly no-lose situation as captain for half a day, he offered glimpses of why he has been identified for so long as a potential captain.

Importantly, his century today - the third in his last six matches since Sri Lanka - came from No. 3, a notoriously problematic position in Pakistan cricket. Apparently, he has the attributes - a calm head, a good reading of the game and a frustrating ability to play traditional shots through non-traditional gaps. So some of his cuts today, as in Kolkata, went finer than many do, others went further in front of square than they should and most were graced with a whippy, Caribbean flourish. Purists would have been pleased by two shots, both off the spinners, one over the ropes and one past, but both straight down the ground. And when his captain tired after tea and you sensed a slowing of momentum, he took the initiative, running hard and in turn, drawing Inzamam into doing likewise.

Spare a thought too for the Indian bowling. This may very well be one of the most balanced Indian bowling attacks in recent years, with two contrasting world-class spinners and a pace attack with variety and considerable promise. Today they laboured and persevered in a lost cause, sometimes well, sometimes not so, but as they have done in the past, they always threaten a fightback.

Today, they have had to contend with a pitch as flat as a pancake, one on which you wonder why you became a bowler in the first place. As it is, pitches involving India seemingly attract an unhealthy amount of scrutiny and much wild speculation as they have during this series, and did against Australia at Nagpur and Multan last year. It is a strange trait given that the attack has done, Nagpur aside, pretty much what an attack of this merit should on most pitches. And you wouldn't - not with the likes of the evergreen Anil Kumble - yet bet against them doing so again at some point here.