India is on the verge of a momentous victory and Sourav Ganguly is hurting. Pakistan faces a facing a humiliating defeat but Yousuf Youhana will not be all that bothered.

Ganguly is unhappy because a bad back forced him to miss the first Test and, with it, India's first Test victory on Pakistani soil. And we thought Ganguly doesn't care about history.

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Youhana was neck deep in trouble with his own form and the controversy of the pitch, which he is believed to have doctored. As vice-captain of the team, his form before the Test was wretched. But the hundred he knocked off with his team's fortunes and the light fading showcased why Youhana is still Pakistan's finest batsman after Inzamam-ul Haq.

Indeed, the Multan Test is really a story of ironies and firsts.

The first 10 wickets in the Test fell for 1039 runs scored while the last 13 wickets fell for 250 runs.

It is the first time Inzamam-ul Haq missed out on a hundred at Multan; it will be the first time Rahul Dravid will win a Test for his country, and it will also be the first time Ganguly is leaving the team during an overseas series.

And India will win its first Test match on Pakistani soil in more than half a century.

Pakistan's most dreaded fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar went wicketless in the Test and said only if he bowls a better line the entire problem with the Pakistan team would be sorted out.

It leaves one wondering what is more tragic: the statistic or the statement. One Akhtar cannot change the fortunes of a fragmented Pakistan team.

In India's total, Sachin Tendulkar's 194 mattered as much as Virender Sehwag's triple century. Irfan Pathan's opening spells in both innings were as responsible for India's success in the field as was Anil Kumble's six wickets for 71 runs in the second innings.

Kumble was modest when he complimented rookies Irfan Pathan and Laxmipathi Balaji, for their impressive spells; Yuvraj Singh, for the crucial wicket of Yaseer Hameed and Inzamam's run-out for a duck; and Sehwag and Tendulkar, for their fine bowling.

Akhtar praised his batsmen after they ended day three at 364 for 6. He believed that the Pakistani batting almost matched the Indians.

But on day four his batsmen let him down, scoring only 250 runs in the entire day after following on.

With one Pakistani wicket separating India from a famous victory, Ganguly could not have asked for anything better. History is surely being rewritten.