'It was just our day' - Younis

Younis Khan celebrates his third hundred in three consecutive matches against India © Getty Images

As the Indians look back at the first day's play at Lahore they may have to demystify the Y of it, with Younis Khan's triumphant century and Mohammad Yousuf's classy 90 putting them well and truly on the back foot. The third factor which they may have to combat is one from the dressing-room, with both the batsmen acknowledging the contribution of Bob Woolmer with regard to handling certain Indian bowlers.

Younis admitted that Woolmer had advised him to counter Anil Kumble just as he would an inswing bowler, a suggestion that played a part in Kumble being taken apart at four an over. His partner, Yousuf also pointed out how Woolmer's inputs had helped him tackle Pathan. "I found it tough against Pathan on the last tour. He was new that time and we didn't know much about him. I was playing across the line to him but Bob helped me sort out my technique."

All the pre-series talk had centered around the grassy wickets that were likely to be produced, but Younis brushed off suggestions that it was a ploy to fool the opposition. "Now days you usually get only such wickets," he said candidly. "We get such wickets in India, Australia and most parts of the world. If we had lost four wickets, then nobody would have said it was a batting wicket. It's just a question of bowling well. They didn't have a good day, we had a very good one."

He added that the conditions in the first session weren't that easy with the moisture giving the bowlers a fair bit of assistance. "It's was tough in the morning session. Once the moisture disappeared, it became tough for the bowlers. There wasn't much in it." The Indian bowling, according to Younis, wasn't as bad as the scorecard suggested. "It is the same bowling attack that helped India beat Sri Lanka and South Africa. It was just our day."

Stressing on importance of partnerships, Younis spoke about how he enjoyed playing alongside Shoaib Malik and Yousuf. "I am not a sort of player who will always play strokes," he continued, "I like to run hard, enjoy my batting and keep the scorecard moving." He said that he always aimed to score quickly, to eliminate the risk of getting bogged down, and that he targeted a score of 160-170 every time he scored a hundred.