In Sialkot, December 9, 10, 11, 13, 14. drawn. Toss: Pakistan. Although a green and seemingly lively pitch had a thing for fast bowlers, India had no difficulty compiling a reasonable total after being placed. The start was delayed until after noon due to morning rain. Srikkanth, for the sixth time in the series, and Sidhu fell victim to Wasim Akram, but Manjrekar again led the way with some flawless tackles and Azharuddin underscored his newfound confidence with a pounding half-century. In fact, Pakistan was the team that had the biggest problems against the moving ball, the Indian bowlers kept to full length and let the pitch help the seam of the ball. Razdan, playing in his second Test, surprised Ramiz Raja, Pakistan’s top scorer, and Shoaib Mohammad with pace from him and then came back to close out the innings. India were 74 ahead, which, if not promising, was an improvement on what had gone before.
On the third day, more time had been lost when those who witnessed only the second Test at Sialkot revealed a tendency to hurl orange peel and some harder missiles at the Indian soldiers. A draw seemed the obvious result. But on the afternoon of the fourth day the match came to life as Akram and Imran reduced India to 38 for four. They were rescued by Sidhu and Tendulkar, who held their ground in a century-old position, despite Pakistani pacers repeatedly bouncing off the youngster. At one point, umpire Holder had to warn Akram for the bully bowling. Tendulkar batted for three and a quarter hours for his second fifty of the series, but Sidhu missed what would have been his third Test hundred when he clipped a short pass from Zakir Khan to Imran on point. The contest, which had promised much when the grounds were falling the previous afternoon, died down and the match was called off by the umpires at tea time.
man of the match: NS Sidhu.
game closing: First day, India 181-3 (SV Manjrekar 72*, RJ Shastri 5*); Second day, Pakistan 23-1 (Ramiz Raja 9*, Shoaib Mohammad 2*); Third day, Pakistan 181-5 (Imran Khan 21*, Nadeem Abbasi 7*); Fourth day, India 102-4 (NS Sidhu 54*, SR Tendulkar 33*).