What Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq had started at Mohali, Younis Khan and Yousuf Youhana continued at Kolkata. Of course, Razzaq played his part with the ball as well in between, on the first day of the second Test when he dismissed Ganguly and Laxman off consecutive deliveries.

The Pakistani team is on the upswing, at the expense of the Indians. Atleast, that is what seemed to be the case at the end of day two of the second Test. Younis Khan, whose appointment as vice-captain prior to this series came in for flak from several quarters, has had a wonderful game. Under fire for his poor batting and poorer catching in the first Test, he answered his critics in the best way possible - with his bat. His sixth Test hundred, and first against the 'old enemy' would have delighted him, his colleagues in the dressing-room and his compatriots back home in Pakistan.

The Indian innings ended at 407, atleast 150 less than what they would have liked to finish with when they were 278-2 on day one with Tendulkar and Dravid batting well. But Razzaq and Afridi had other ideas. The Indian tail didn't wag all that much, until spin twins Kumble and Harbhajan joined hands to add 44. Shahid Afridi, whose three wickets including those of Sehwag and Tendulkar played no mean role in getting his team back into the match, opened the innings with Taufiq Umar, who strangely kept his place at the expense of fellow southpaw Salman Butt, who scored a scintillating unbeaten hundred against the same team at the same ground three months ago. Later, he went over to Australia, where he scored a 70-odd and a hundred. Wonder what prompted the Pakistani management to axe him and bring in Taufiq, who so far has looked out of sorts as batsman and fielder. He got two 'lives', with Dravid and Sehwag grassing chances in the slips, and really he should have made them count. But he didn't, and returned to the pavilion to join his opening partner, who in characteristic style fell to Pathan in trying to hit a fourth boundary in the over. As one would say in Mumbai parlance, "Afridi is like that only!"

Enter the two Ys, the current Pakistani vice-captain and his predecessor. Younis Khan, who had done a good job as acting captain on the first evening in the absence of Inzamam, proceeded to unveil his batting and running capabilities. He and Youhana took the attack to the Indians by simply being positive. Some inept bowling and listless fielding aided them, but then, you have got to be good enough to exploit the shortcomings of your opponents at the international level. The Indian bowlers did not bowl to their field enough, and served up a bad ball every now and then, which the batsmen took full toll off. Their running was outstanding. The runs came at a fair clip, and if this pair carries on in the same vein the next day, one might well see Pakistan taking a competitive lead.

Ganguly overbowled Kumble and underbowled Harbhajan, and this didn't help the Indians at all. There were frowns all around and little or no urgency. Their aggressive leg-before appeals to deliveries that were clearly missing leg-stump ignited the crowd, but failed to make any impression on Darrel Hair and 100-Test man Steve Bucknor. The appeals merely underlined India's desperation to break the stand.

The Pakistanis did not wilt on day one and reaped the rewards on day two. If Younis and Youhana can last till lunch tomorrow and inch closer to India's 407, then anything can happen in the remainder of the game, with in-form batsmen like Akmal, Razzaq, Kamal and of course, Inzamam still to come. The captain would have surely forgotten all about his stomach cramps by now!

Sourav Ganguly and John Wright will be doing a lot of talking today evening and tomorrow morning. One of the stiffer challenges in cricket is lifting yourself from the floor, and the Indians are facing precisely that challenge.

But then, this is a game, this is Test cricket, and anything is possible. This series has already witnessed some remarkable twists and turns, and there are certainly more in store.

P.S; Everybody knows that Yuvraj Singh is a fine batsman, magnificent fielder and underrated bowler, but apparently he is also an excellent 'drinks carrier'. Atleast the selectors think so. They vetoed the Punjab cricket team's request to release him for the Ranji Trophy semi-final due to start in Mumbai tomorrow. The Punjab Cricket Association's argument was that Yuvraj was not part of the playing XI at Kolkata, and hence could be spared, but the selectors obviously felt that carrying drinks and substituting in a Test match was more important than helping your domestic team qualify for the final of India's premier domestic cricket tournament. Sounds strange, isn't it? But then, that's Indian cricket for you.