Wicket-keeper Akmal was named man of the match for his century

"At 39-6, if we had got rolled over for 80 or 90 we would have been looking down at a serious defeat," he said.

"He was quite rightly the man of the match for that innings.

"He played absolutely beautifully, as if the ball was going straight on, which is a sign of his ability, and he's one for the future definitely."

Karachi scorecard

Woolmer also paid tribute to all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and batsman Faisal Iqbal, whose maiden Test century on day three gave Pakistan a massive lead.

We lost four or five wickets with the new ball in both innings and that put us under pressure Rahul Dravid More India reaction

The duo filled in brilliantly for the injured Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik, who was at his father's funeral.

"Razzaq was fantastic. We were criticised for playing him but we had to for his batting with Inzamam unavailable.

"He got 90 and took four wickets [on Wednesday] and got 45 important runs on the first day.

"Faisal Iqbal stepped into Inzamam's shoes and did really well."

Younis Khan, Pakistan's stand-in captain said: "This was a whole team effort. It follows on from the way we started playing against England [when they won 2-0].

"Whenever it was necessary someone in the team performed."

Akmal said: "This was a very important Test match to win for me. My partnerships in the first innings took the score to a certain level.

"I had no plan going in at that stage. Inzamam told me to play my game and play positive, and I just played like that."