Yasir Arafat celebrates the wicket of Rahul Dravid with teammate Yasir Hameed in Bangalore on Saturday. (PTI)

Bangalore: Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh slammed sublime centuries to put India in a position to dictate terms in the third and final Test against Pakistan on Saturday.

Thanks to the left-handers’ buccaneering knocks, India recovered from 61 for four to finish the opening day at 365 for five at the Chinnaswamy. Their record-breaking fifth-wicket stand of 300 against Pakistan severely damaged the subcontinental rivals’ aspirations of levelling the series.

Yuvraj, who played his previous Test some 17 months ago in the West Indies, failed to convert his third century into his maiden double hundred. He was dismissed for 169, while Sourav finished on an unbeaten 125 — the second time he made back-to-back Test centuries after his dream debut in England 11 years ago.

The riveting spirit with which Sourav and Yuvraj scuttled Pakistan’s early advantage — alternating restraint with abundant strokeplay — was a connoisseur’s delight. How they turned a battle for survival into an exhibition of power and class!

No Sachin Tendulkar, no Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the XI and the top four back in the pavilion in the 23 rd over — Anil Kumble’s decision to bat first looked to be backfiring. Shoaib was spitting fire, young debutant Yasir Arafat made the batsmen dance to his tune in the corridor of uncertainty and suddenly every Pakistan player looked menacing as they went for the jugular.

But once Yuvraj found a boundary off Mohammed Sami through covers — the second in his stroke-filled knock — it signalled beginning of the great recovery. Sourav soon joined the party, piercing the offside with his signature drives.

Shoaib, in an effort to unsettle Sourav, raised both arms yards before delivering the ball. The annoyed batsman moved away from the crease. Shoaib followed it up with a mock delivery!

Yuvraj, on the other hand, straight-drove Sami, followed by a spanking shot through mid-wicket off Arafat. The news of Shoaib visiting a hospital for back spasm soon after lunch finished Pakistan’s fight.

Yuvraj raced ahead of his partner in the 70s and completed his hundred in 137 balls as Sourav got stuck on 82. A spanking shot through the covers off Arafat, a big leap and a prolonged hug from Sourav signalled Yuvraj’s coming out of Test wilderness.

Sourav reached the milestone almost 20 minutes later.

Yuvraj’s pyrotechnics were finally stopped at 169 (203 balls, 252 minutes, 28x4, 1x6), a Sami delivering ballooning in the gully region for a simple catch to Faisal Iqbal.

Sourav faced 214 balls and hit 20 boundaries in his unbeaten knock.

The morning, however, promised a different day as the first session clearly belonged to Arafat. The 25-year-old, coming in as first change, sent shivers down the Indian top order’s spine. He accounted for Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer and V.V.S. Laxman in four overs.

When Younis Khan handed the cherry to Arafat — who got the nod ahead of Sohail Tanveer — the stage was perfectly set for swing bowling. The cold, cloudy weather must have reminded him of Kent where he produced some stellar performances. Maintaining a steady nagging line and using the bounce of the early morning pitch, Yas — as Arafat is fondly called — made a mockery of the famed Indian batting.

The Rawalpindi Express may have gone wicketless, but he created the ideal platform for his rookie partner to exploit. Having been pushed to the back foot foot by a barrage of bouncers and some super fast deliveries which whistled past the willow, the Indians took Arafat as a soft option.

Jaffer and Dravid’s casual approach to those fatal deliveries could be cases in point. The same Arafat looked ordinary — and far less menacing — in Shoaib’s absence after lunch.

Sourav and Yuvraj’s resistance and dominance grew gradually. They made a conservative beginning in their bid to repair the vast damage. Once they settled down, the focus shifted from defence to offence. They scorched the park here, there and everywhere with some sweetly timed drives on both sides of the wicket.

By tea, Arafat’s dream debut was in shambles as the two scintillating left-handers took complete control of Day I proceedings. The cloud had vanished totally over the Chinnaswamy as Sourav walked back with Dinesh Karthik (batting on 3) smiling all the way.