Pakistan's vice-captain Younis Khan and Yousuf Youhana hit unbeaten centuries to lead a spirited reply from the visitors as they reached 273 for two in the second test in Kolkata in reply to India's 407 all out.
Younis scored 108 and was well supported by former deputy Yousuf Youhana, who made 101 in an unbroken 203-run stand for the third wicket. The pair came to Pakistan's rescue after they were reduced to 70 for two in the 14th over, but batted with relative ease to reduce the deficit to 134 runs.
It was Younis"s first century as vice-captain and the perfect answer to criticisms of his poor batting performance in the first Test at Mohali. His partner Youhana notched up his 13th century in a typically untroubled and well-paced innings.
Pakistan's innings got off to a flyer with Shahid Afridi hitting a whirlwind 29 off 21 balls, which included seven boundaries. The erratic opener couldn't resist going after Irfan Pathan, which turned out to be his undoing as his attempted slog over mid-on found the welcoming hands of Sachin Tendulkar.
Afridi's opening partner Taufeeq Umar looked less than convincing as he was dropped twice in the slips: he made 18 before being caught by Harbajhan Singh after looping a short ball from Lakshmipathy Balaji in the air.
From then on, Younis and Youhana set out to frustrate Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and the spin duo of Harbhajan and Anil Kumble were ineffective on a good batting strip. The batsmen took Pakistan to tea to 147 for two and then scored 126 runs in the final session when both passed three figures.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan enjoyed the rub of the green by reducing India to 363 for nine. First to go was Dinesh Karthik, who failed to add to his overnight score of 28. Karthik tried to take a quick single but a smart piece of fielding by Mohammad Khalil saw him given out by the TV umpire.
Balaji was then bowled by Afridi's first ball of the day to leave India on 357 for eight; Pathan fell six runs later when he was well caught by Younis Khan at silly point off Danish Kaneria.
Harbhajan and Kumble had more success with the bat than the ball as they frustrated Pakistan's bowlers with a last wicket stand of 44, which lasted nearly an hour. Both of the batsmen hit out and forced Pakistan to take the new ball before Abdul Razzaq's extra pace saw Harbhajan trapped lbw for 27, leaving Kumble unbeaten on 21.
Razzaq finished with good figures of 3 for 62, and made better use of the pitch conditions than Pakistan's opening bowlers Mohammed Sami and Khalil. Leg-spinners Afridi and Kaneria also finished with three wickets apiece.
Pakistan's openers had to survive five overs before lunch and Afridi showed his intentions by smacking four boundaries to take the score to 17 without loss at the interval. He continued to launch into India's bowling attack of Pathan and Balaji after the break to provide the impetus for Pakistan's innings in the way that Virender Sehwag had done for the home side.
Pathan then removed Afridi after the batsman's eagerness to go after everything proved to be his downfall. Pathan enjoyed little success after that, however, nursing figure of 73 runs off his 16 overs.
Taufeeq looked uneasy at the crease even though he was given two lives by India's slip fielders. Both Rahul Dravid and Sehwag dropped simple chances in the cordon before Balaji forced Taufeeq into looping a short to Harbhajan.
