NEW DELHI, Nov 25: Indian opener Wasim Jaffer said on Sunday that it would be difficult for Pakistan to make a comeback and win the series if they lose the first Test at the Ferozshah Kotla Ground.

Jaffer, who scored 53 to help India reach 171 for three in pursuit of 203 on the fourth day, said his team still have some work to do before victory is achieved on Monday.

“Look, we still need another 32 runs and despite our current position, one can’t get overconfident just because the remaining target is small. Funny things have happened in cricket in the past,” Jaffer told reporters after close of play on Sunday.

“But winning the first Test here would help greatly because it’s always tough to get back into the series [of three Tests] after losing the first Test.”

Jaffer added that it was imperative that Saurav Ganguly, who is batting on 48, stayed at the wicket after Shoaib Akhtar dismissed Rahul Dravid.

“He [Saurav] is in very good nick at the moment. We hope he plays in the same vein tomorrow and finishes the match. I’m glad that I made an important contribution today because had we lost a couple of wickets quickly after [Dinesh] Karthik got in the first over, Pakistan might have come back strongly into the match,” the Mumbai-born opening batsman said.

Jaffer claimed that although Shoaib Akhtar was a difficult bowler for any batsman to face, he felt good in taking on the Pakistan pace ace.

“It is always very tough challenge for an opener facing somebody bowling at 140-145 [KPH]. It feels good that I’ve come out well against him here. Fast bowling is something which an opener has to play and I’ve played many. Shoaib is their main bowler. We all had the same thing in our mind. We’ve to play him out and the bowling gets easier,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, Pakistan debutant Sohail Tanvir conceded that his team fell 100 short of setting India a competitive fourth-innings chase.

“Obviously, we might have been in with a chance of victory had we set them something around 300 at least. This was the target everyone in Pakistan dressing room was looking at,” the 23-year-old left-handed all-rounder told reporters. “But unfortunately, we were unable to get that far. However, there is still some hope left for us in this Test.”