In ODI cricket, India's last series, in November 2005, ended in a 2–2 draw with South Africa, while Pakistan beat England 3–2 in December 2005.

Pakistan's captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, said that India started as favourites in the Test series,[1] while former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has said that "it's easy to get them (Indian batsmen) out".

[4] Match drawn[7] The Indians won the toss and chose to bat at the Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore, and in 77 overs on the first day, they made 298 for four after half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

The Indian seamers Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan got a wicket each in their opening spell, but a 162-run stand between Imran Farhat and Hasan Raza closed the gap.

The BBC described their batsman as "dominating India" in a headline,[8] with Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf all passing fifty on the first day.

Sourav Ganguly returned for India, after being left out of the ODI side on recent tours, and the former captain saw action in the first session when he was called upon to bowl four overs of medium pace,[8] but neither he nor any of the two spinners Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble could get a wicket in the morning session, and Malik completed his half-century off 109 balls just before the lunch break when he turned a ball from Kumble around to make two runs.

By the end of the day Sehwag and Dravid were just 11 runs short of the record opening stand set by India fifty years ago.

India suffered a collapse after lunch, losing 4/45 as Laxman (90), Dravid (103, run out), Sachin Tendulkar (14, walking despite replays suggesting he missed the ball) and Yuvraj Singh (4) were all dismissed.

Pathan fell short of a century (90), but the tail wagged (Harbhajan Singh 38, Zaheer Khan 20*) to give India 603, and a slender lead of 15.

Pakistan started their second innings confidently, reaching 1/152 at the close with Younis Khan on 64 and Kamran Akmal (opening in place of Shoaib Malik who had returned to Sialkot to be with his gravely ill father) on 59.

As the game faded away, Indian wicket-keeper MS Dhoni and Pakistani batsman Younis Khan, both infrequent bowlers at international level, took the new ball.