He felt that the visiting side had the "strongest batting power house ever to be sent out" by Pakistan and that Hanif Mohammad, "the most matured opener of the game", would the main "hurdle" for India.

[5] Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first on what was described as a pitch without the "usual grass" on it[4] while staying "firm" and with "little dew".

[3] The Indian team selectors made changes to the squad following the First Test; wicket-keeper Naren Tamhane, V. M. Muddiah, Salim Durani were included in place of Pankaj Roy, Nana Joshi and Ajit Wadekar.

[16] Further, following the first-class game between Pakistan and Indian Board President's XI, wicket-keeper Budhi Kunderan and Vijay Mehra were added to the squad.

[18] In the Indian side that played the Fourth Test and the squad, Datta Gaekwad, Surendranath, Baloo Gupte and Naren Tamhane were replaced with Indrajitsinhji, Prakash Poddar, Bapu Nadkarni and Vaman Kumar for the Fifth.