Mahendra Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh hit half-centuries to inspire India to a five-wicket win over Pakistan in their opening one-day match in Guwahati.
They put on 105, the aggressive Dhoni hitting eight fours in his 63, while Yuvraj fired six fours and a six in 58.
Both fell near the end but India got to their 240 target with 18 balls left.
Salman Butt gave Pakistan a good start with 50 from 57 balls and Mohammad Yousuf, dropped on nine, hit eight fours in a battling unbeaten 83.
Given the talent of India's batsmen, a target of 240 initially seemed somewhat insufficient, particularly as there were no floodlights to encourage movement for the bowlers.
After Sachin Tendulkar was lbw to a Shoaib Akhtar slower ball in the third over, it quickly became evident that it would not be so straightforward.
Gambhir twice edged a noticeably portly Shoaib - who left an advertising hoarding in need of repair when colliding with it in the field - between keeper and slip to the boundary early in his innings.
But the two left-handers slowly came to terms with the slow surface, Ganguly recording the 50 with a lofted straight drive for six as Umar Gul tried a slower ball.
They were progressing serenely until Ganguly was sent back and the throw from backward square-leg saw him short of his ground by the narrowest of margins.
Four overs later Gambhir missed a straight one from Shahid Afridi that bowled him around his legs and 127 were still needed.
But Dhoni signalled his intentions by flashing at his first ball, which fizzed off the outside edge to the boundary, and the batting side were soon firmly in command again.
Yuvraj, who survived a confident lbw appeal from spinner Abdur Rehman, wafted the next ball effortlessly over mid-wicket for six to keep his team well ahead of the rate.
He was first of the pair to fifty, from 66 balls, Dhoni following suit in the next over, and the searing boundaries continued as the 100 stand came up in 129 balls.
With 22 needed from 42 balls, Yuvraj top-edged a sweep to fine-leg and the requirement was 15 from 35 when Dhoni was smartly caught behind off the persistent Shoaib.
There were a couple more moments of anxiety before Robin Uthappa thumped Shoaib down the ground for four and advanced down the pitch to slice the winning runs in style with a six over third man.
When Shoaib Malik elected to have first use of the pitch, Butt played some fluent strokes with the field up for the powerplay overs, taken in one bundle by India captain Dhoni.
Kamran Akmal was not able to score as freely and succumbed playing an ungainly stroke across the line, although replays suggested that umpire Ian Gould, resplendent in old school colonial-style panama hat, was incorrect as the ball pitched outside leg-stump.
After the drinks break, spin was introduced in the form of Harbhajan Singh and he made the breakthrough, although not with any magical delivery.
Having completed his fifty from 56 balls, Butt miscued to mid-off but set off for a perfectly realistic single, only to find Younus Khan rooted to the non-striker's end.
Butt was unable to scramble back as Yuvraj Singh whistled the ball back to Dhoni and with slow left-armer Murali Kartik in operation from the other end the scoring slowed, 16 overs passing by without a boundary.
Yousuf was reprieved when he got a leading edge playing against the spin of Kartik but Ganguly, running back towards mid-off, could not cling on to the chance.
Younus also felt the urgency to accelerate the scoring but succumbed, lofting to long-off.
It took until 35th over for the first six of the innings, a brutal heave over long-on from Afridi as Pathan dropped short, but when spin returned problems mounted for Pakistan.
Having butchered another boundary, Afridi was hopelessly deceived in the flight by Tendulkar and was almost nearer the bowler's end than the crease as Dhoni took off the bails.
Worse was to follow as Malik, wearing eye-catchingly luminous green pads, fell to an eye-catchingly bad shot, hoiking a full toss from Sachin Tendulkar straight to the fielder on the mid-wicket boundary.
Yousuf grinded out a 68-ball half-century, the 200 coming up in the 46th over, but the lack of significant support from his middle-order colleagues proved decisive.
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