Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble at the Eden on Sunday. (PTI)

Pakistan are known as much for their fighting spirit as their unpredictability. The first element had been conspicuous by its absence in this series. I was expecting them to show their mettle at least once. That happened at the Eden on Sunday.

For a team gasping at 150 for five in reply to India’s 616 for five declared, it was a remarkable fightback by Misbah and Akmal. A fightback which will be remembered for the commitment, technique, responsibility and a bit of flair shown by the sixth-wicket pair.

It was all the more creditable because both players were under a lot of pressure. Misbah, who hadn’t made a 50 and averaged about 17 in seven Tests prior to this series, got runs at the Kotla but threw his wicket at a crucial juncture in the second innings. And the out-of-form Akmal was facing the axe in Bangalore if he didn’t bat well here.

There was a lot of hard work and method behind Misbah and Akmal’s efforts. They played Kumble and Harbhajan brilliantly and sent a strong message to the dressing room that there was no demon in the pitch. The slowness of the track allowed them to judge the length well and play off the back foot. That was the right way to go about it.

The Eden pitch looked like a war zone even on Sunday morning, ready to crumble. The surface didn’t do much for the spin twins, but I was quite disappointed with the way the two bowled, especially after having Pakistan on the mat at the end of the first session.

I felt the Indians took the foot off the pedal when the Misbah-Akmal partnership was maturing. Instead of attacking, Kumble spread out the field and had long-off and long-on in place. The Pakistani pair could shrug off the pressure by looking at the body language of the Indians.

There were a few other things which surprised me about Kumble’s captaincy on Sunday. I couldn’t understand why Sourav was taken off after bowling two good overs to Akmal. He should have continued with the new ball. The way the big crowd was rooting for Sourav, who knows he could have fed off that to pick up a wicket or two. Sourav, in fact, could have been tried earlier in the day.

I also failed to understand the logic behind starting a session with Sachin at one end. Kumble himself could have bowled a few more overs.

Kumble will have an important decision to make if Pakistan fail to reach the follow-on target. The trend these days is not to enforce the follow-on to eliminate any chance of batting in the fourth innings. But if I was the captain, I would exercise the option on Monday even if the lead is just in excess of 200.

That’s because of the time factor. If the Indians bat a second time, Pakistan’s chances of saving the match will brighten because they would be left to bat a bit more than a day.

Irrespective of how the game pans out on the fourth morning, the Pakistan captain and some others will have to bat more responsibly if they are to salvage honour. Some of their shot selection was poor. Butt had an angling bat to a ball spinning away, Yousuf played against the spin and Younis chased a wide one and played away from his body.

The pitch may ultimately give way on the final day, but Pakistan must take a cue from Misbah and Akmal and continue to fight.