KOLKATA, Nov 30: A flawless unbeaten century by opener Wasim Jaffer was instrumental in giving India the early advantage over a beleaguered Pakistan side on the opening day of the second Test at the Eden Gardens here on Friday.

Jaffer cut, pulled and drove Pakistan into submission with a majestic 192 — his fifth century in 24 Tests — as India reached a commanding 352 for three at stumps when bad light ended the proceedings 5.3 overs earlier.

Jaffer, who was involved in two productive partnerships – both surpassing the 100-run mark – with stalwarts Rahul Dravid (50) and Sachin Tendulkar (82), led India’s onslaught against the ineffective bowling attack at Pakistan’s disposal. Saurav Ganguly, on his home turf, was the other unbeaten batsman at the close with 17 to his name.

A strong back foot player, Jaffer simply toyed with the Pakistan bowling which lacked teeth from the onset. Shoaib Akhtar, recovering from a bout of flu, never displayed the firepower that was badly required as he manfully went through the motion of bowling nine overs in four spells.

Also making himself available for this Test was Mohammad Sami, who was also confined to bed with sore throat and high fever on Thursday. As the day unfolded it became increasingly apparent that Pakistan had taken the field with a half-fit XI. Such was the lack of enthusiasm on the tourists’ part that one forgot the number of counts when the ball was misfielded during the day.

Jaffer brought up his hundred with his 18th boundary – rocking back to punish Kaneria for pitching it short as the ball crossed the cover fence. Jaffer’s second fifty included as many as 40 runs in boundaries. His third was punctuated with another seven when he went to 150 off 207 balls in a time of eight minutes under five hours.

He was particularly very severe on Sohail Tanvir, carving the left-armer for 18 of his 32 fours. By stumps, the 29-year-old Mumbai right-hander had been at the crease for 366 minutes during which he scarcely failed to middle the 255 deliveries he negotiated.

Luck was certainly with India all day long. The only chance that came Pakistan’s way was not taken when Sami, still wicketless in the series, managed to force Sachin Tendulkar edge the last ball of the first over after tea.

But much to the paceman’s frustration, Kamran Akmal blotted his work behind the stumps for the umpteenth time when Tendulkar had reached 28. It was a difficult chance, indeed, but a Test level ‘keeper should have picked it up.

Younis Khan, taking over the reins of leadership from a limping Shoaib Malik who pulled out because of an ankle problem, was left with no choice but to field when he called incorrectly at the toss. Saddled with a weakened bowling combination, Younis marshalled his troops bravely in the hope that the Almighty would bless his bowlers with some luck on the Eden pitch.

The stand-in skipper wrung changes at regular intervals but to no avail. So much so that Sohail Tanvir, at one stage, opted to bowl spin when he was summoned from the Club House End for three overs in the final session. Yasir Hameed, with just a solitary over in 21 previous Tests, was also called up to turn his hand over.

Jaffer, looking in full control of the situation when play got underway at 9:00am, was easily the outstanding batsman of the opening session which ended with India cruising along merrily at 104 for one.

Earlier, Sohail had a dream start in the morning when he condemned Dinesh Karthik for his third failure of the series.Poor Karthik, whose place could be under threat now after scores of nine and one in the Delhi Test and now one here, was unfortunate to get a good first one from Sohail that pitched in the corridor of uncertainty with Younis comfortably taking a low chance at second slip.

Dravid, with a Test average of over 65 at the Eden Gardens, completed his 49th half-century in Test cricket before he was given out on the very next ball.

However, TV replays indicated the West Indian Billy Doctrove had erroneously given the caught behind ruling since Dravid (seven fours, 117 balls) had only succeeded in hitting his bat into the pitch.

Tendulkar, who stroked 12 fours, was undone by a tossed-up googly from Kaneria that knocked the leg and middle stumps much to Kaneria’s undiluted joy and excitement – one of the rare sights on a day Pakistan would want to forget.

While India remained unchanged for the second straight Test, Pakistan brought in Faisal Iqbal for Shoaib Malik in the only change from the Delhi Test.

Scoreboard

INDIA 1st Innings

W.Jaffer not out 192

D.Karthik c Younis b Tanvir 1

R.A.Dravid c Akmal b Kaneria 50

S.R.Tendulkar b Kaneria 82

S.C.Ganguly not out 17

EXTRAS: (B-4, LB-3, NB-3) 10

Total: (for 3 wkts, 87.3 overs) 352

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-138, 3-313.

BOWLING: Shoaib 9-1-29-0, Tanvir 24-3-118-1 (NB-1), Sami 18.3-1-56-0 (NB-2), Kaneria 30-3-126-2, Yasir 3-0-16-0.

Pakistan: Younis Khan, Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar

UMPIRES: Billy Doctrove (WI) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA)

TV UMPIRE: Amish Saheba (IND)

MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)