Calcutta: Former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal termed the sixth wicket partnership between Misbah-ul Haq and Kamran Akmal a “match saving” one. The battling partnership also caught former Australian off-spinner Bruce Yardley off the guard. He was “lost for words” to describe the tantalising innings the duo came up with. Following are the excerpts (alphabetically).

ASIF IQBAL: Brilliant innings… Both of them played superbly. In fact, they showed their teammates what disciplined batting is all about. Especially Kamran Akmal… there was a lot of pressure on him as he was not doing well as a wicketkeeper. But with this knock, he showed the team the sheer strength of his batting prowess. In fact, I would say Akmal established himself in the team purely as a batsman. Both batted really well. It was their 207-run sixth wicket partnership which gave Pakistan some hope… that they can still save this match. You should give full credit to the duo…

They came up with the steely knocks when the opposition (India) were doing well. Also, they had to face two world class spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh which speaks volumes of their performance. They gave Pakistan the biggest reason to smile.

It boosted their confidence too. Where was Misbah all this time? I’m surprised that he was not there in the side for so long… He produced the goods in the ICC World Twenty20 and in the South Africa Test and ODI series.

BRUCE YARDLEY: It’s a fantastic partnership… That’s all I can say… It hogged all the limelight of the third days’ proceedings.

UTPAL CHATTERJEE: It’s a dead wicket, the ball is not carrying to the wicketkeeper. Bowlers have to wait for batsmen to make mistakes. Kumble can extract some bounce, but bowlers like Harbhajan have to work very hard. He should bowl naturally and not try anything different. India can still win.

DEEP DASGUPTA: Akmal and Misbah played intelligently. On this pitch, batsmen and bowlers should be patient. The Pakistanis are familiar with this kind of pitches and that helped them to turn around. They are good players of the spinners… They simply played a good innings. I feel Monday morning will be crucial… Everything depends on the first session tomorrow.

DEVANG GANDHI: It was a good fightback by Pakistan, the centuries came at the right time. Both Akmal and Misbah played brilliantly… Despite being on the field for two days, they batted really well. I feel India still have the better chance to win. The first session on Monday will be crucial one…