Arain apparently advised Bob Woolmer, Pakistan national team's coach, against using the heavy roller, as there was still adequate moisture under the surface for the host seamers to exploit, The News reported on Friday.

Having heeded the valuable piece of advice, the team reaped rich dividends as both Mohammad Asif and Abdul Razzaq got the ball to move off the wicket in the final innings dismissing India for a paltry 265 chasing a mammoth 607 for a win.

Arain used the traditional method of assessing the moisture content in the pitch - a crucial factor for fast bowlers to get movement off the wicket - by inserting a long screwdriver into the wicket and found that there was still plenty of moisture available for the bowlers to exploit.

Fortunately for Pakistan, India did not opt for the heavy roller when they went in to bat in the final innings and the Pakistani bowlers had a field day getting the wickets.

The 341-run hammering, India's second biggest in terms of runs, was also Pakistan's biggest ever by some margin. It also underlined — very starkly — two facts that stare the team management in the face. First, that this must be the most ineffective Indian bowling attack in recent memory, and second, the famed Indian batting line-up is beginning to unravel.

In the first two games the inability of the bowlers to find the right areas was to an extent disguised by the placid nature of the pitches used. At Karachi, this was brutally exposed. Pakistan needed a tree-Test rookie to show a far more experienced set of bowlers how it could be done. The seasoned Abdul Razzaq did his bit even as Shoaib Akhtar breathed fire.

In contrast, the three Indian seamers — Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan and R.P. Singh — had something to show for in friendly conditions in the first innings, but were battered senseless in the second. Rahul Dravid may have tried to put a better than deserved complexion on things by shifting the onus of defeat on to the batsmen, but that cannot conceal the fact that it was the bowling attack that let the side down in the first place, by allowing Pakistan to wiggle out of an extremely tight sport at 39/6 in the first innings.

Instead he picked the first innings collapse, and poor judgment in team selection for the fiasco. "We were in good position when we had them six down on the first day but we didn't bat well enough then to put them under pressure."

"In the second innings any team asked to chase 607 runs is going to be under pressure. Our first aim was to play out the new ball and then take it session by session. We had not planned to win or draw the match."

Some of India's discomfort could have been avoided had the captain not continued to open, as he had done at Lahore and Faisalabad. He may have had his reasons, but especially in the second innings there was no denying the fact that he would have been far better served bating at his accustomed one-drop slot, especially given the fact that Sachin Tendulkar had not had a very good series till that point.

But then admitting that the ad-hoc policy with the top of the order had not worked is a bit like shutting the door to the stable after the horse had bolted. "We played the best batting combination and it clicked in the first two Tests. But I guess we now have to think about playing the best batsmen in best positions," Dravid agreed.

Horses for courses may work for a while, but this one match has demonstrated very starkly that the team cannot afford to play around with one its two premier batsmen, even if the person taking that decision happens to be one of them.

Greg Chappell, it is learnt was keen to see Dravid revert to the number three position for the second innings to cover the rest of the batting, but the captain insisted on sticking with what seemed to be the better option. Sadly, it was enough to undo all the good work of the first two Tests. (Source: The Asian Age)