Harbhajan Singh looked back over his shoulder towards the giant screen; he noted the point of release, dropped wrists and the seam coming off the fingers. He saw how it sharply broke back in, and into the stumps of Misbah-ul-Haq. The marked man in the opposition camp was spaced out by a slower delivery from pacer Munaf Patel — it’s important to reiterate Munaf’s prefix because the deliveries measured in the mid 70 m/hr bracket, and were bowled with a 4-5 field settings that underscored that pace had no role — maybe just a cameo role keeping in mind Zaheer Khan’s early wicket — in the fifth day script at Eden Gardens here.

Munaf certainly can’t be expected to replicate that unnatural delivery — that was Harbhajan’s duty rather. As the specialist off-spinner he was the more likely candidate to do the damage today. Post a blank set of 31 overs in the second innings, his reputation here didn’t get enhanced at a critical stage, but the man who did manage to uplift his image further happened to be the stand-in Pakistan skipper.

Younis Khan scored an unbeaten 107 — his second in two matches here and the fifth century against India in eight appearances, But more importantly, he stood firm for 214 minutes at the crease; and giving him support was his most reliable partner in time of crisis — Mohammad Yousuf with a sedate 44 — as Pakistan finished at 214/4.

With Harbhajan not really shining, skipper Anil Kumble went over and around the wicket, bowled from both end, pitched in the middle and in the rough.

... contd.