New Delhi: Anil Kumble couldn’t have asked for a better start to his Test captaincy.

Eight years after notching up a perfect-10 against the Pakistanis at the Kotla, Kumble led from the front to push the visitors on the back foot.

But for a 68-run unfinished partnership for the ninth wicket between Misbah-ul Haq (batting 71) and Mohammed Sami (batting 20), the opening day of the first Test for the IndianOil Cup belonged to India and their captain.

Not unexpectedly, the Indian attack took the Pakistan batting apart before losing edge towards the end of the day. Misbah and Sami took advantage, waging a brave fight to carry the visitors from 142 for eight at tea to 210 for eight when play was called off because of bad light in the 86th over.

Kumble, who was asked on Wednesday whether captaincy would be a burden at the fag end of his career, had said he was not one to shirk responsibility. Well, the new skipper showed on Thursday he was true to his word.

Shoaib Malik called correctly, but as the Pakistan openers walked out under overcast conditions, Kumble didn’t lose time in stamping his authority on the opposition.

The Indian captain put Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed under pressure straightaway by putting a cluster of men around the bat and reaped the rewards.

“When I have the ball in hand, I will try to take wickets and motivate the others,” he had said the other day. He did just that.

Bringing himself on as first change in the 16th over, he added three wickets to his Test kitty with superb deliveries and left Pakistan rattled.

The one that disturbed Hameed’s stumps was a real beauty. Just when the right-handed opener looked to have settled down for a long innings, Kumble did him in with a vicious googly.

The other bowlers also did their job splendidly. While Zaheer Khan produced two wickets in his first spell of eight overs, Sourav Ganguly troubled the batsmen no end with his controlled swing.

As Kumble handed Sourav the red cherry in the 17th over, the former captain almost made the ball talk to catch the Pakistanis off guard.

The former India captain bowled extremely well in his first spell but went wicketless. He was rewarded in his second spell, when he came on from the Delhi Gate End just after lunch.

With his very first ball after lunch, Sourav trapped the prolific Mohammed Yousuf leg-before. It was a big jolt for Pakistan.

Sourav could have had another wicket with the next delivery, had Simon Taufel upheld a close leg-before appeal against Malik.

The low bounce didn’t help the batsmen, but the wicket didn’t otherwise hold too many terrors for them. Despite the fact that the Indians bowled efficiently, the fact remains that the Pakistanis didn’t apply themselves well.

It was only in the last session that the visitors showed the stomach for a fight, thanks to the fighting Misbah and the stoic Sami.

Misbah, so long considered to be a batsman suitable for the limited over versions, played an uncharacteristic innings to record his highest Test score. His application was top class and shot selection exemplary.

Kumble tried all tricks, including summoning Sachin Tendulkar, but nothing worked.