Draw at Lahore

Faisal Iqbal impressed for Pakistan A with 87 against the touring Indians, as the match predictably ended in a draw.

Resuming on 212-4, the home side lost 2 early wickets, one each to Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh. But the next wicket took a lot longer to come, as Iqbal, Javed Miandad’s nephew, and wicketkeeper Zulqernain Haider defied the Indian bowlers.

The scoring was not quick by any stretch of the imagination, but in the 2 hour period for which they were to stave off the Indian attack they added 88 runs for the seventh wicket. It was Irfan Pathan who seperated the pair, trapping Haider lbw for a gritty 35.

Batting with the tail, Iqbal advanced toward three figures, but a rash hook stroke off Agarkar prevented him reaching the milestone. Pakistan A’s tailenders had a bit of a hit-out, adding 21 runs before the innings was called to a close on 358, shortly after the fall of the ninth wicket.

The Indian bowlers were a fair deal more economical than on the previous day, and a lifeless pitch Rudra Pratap Singh did his test chances no harm with two wickets.

In the remaining overs, Jaffer and Gambhir advanced quickly to 72 in a partnership that was unbroken at the end of the match, neither making the slectors decision of choosing Sehwag’s partner any easier.

India 414/7
Sachin Tendulkar 74, Rahul Dravid 63
Mohammad Irshad 2/79, Imran Farhat 1/36

Pakistan A 358-9 dec.
Imran Farhat 107, Faisal Iqbal 87
Irfan Pathan 3-82, Ajit Agarkar 2-60

India 72-0
Wasim Jaffer 35*, Gautam Gambhir 28*

Match Drawn