He was lucky to survive a caught behind appeal when on 88 replays showed quite a fat edge but Asad Rauf was unmoved — but fell soon after, eight short of what would’ve been only his second 2nd innings century.

Gambhir fell right after celebrating his second Test century, his first since coming back to the team in Sri Lanka, but two promotions — Dhoni came in at number three and Sourav Ganguly at four — paid off as the run-rate, despite Ponting’s ultra-defensive fields, never slowed down.

In 2005, at this venue, Pakistan went into the final day with four wickets in hand and managed to save the game — Abdul Razzak and Kamran Akmal the heroes that day. But chances are, especially if they get an early breakthrough on Tuesday, India should head to Delhi ahead in the series.