India were held up by a rearguard action from Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq after taking control on the opening afternoon of the first Test in Delhi. 
After Pakistan had won the toss and batted, paceman Zaheer Khan took 2-36 and skipper Anil Kumble claimed 3-38.
India had their arch rivals reeling at 142-8 at the tea interval.
But Misbah (71 not out) and Mohammad Sami (20 not out) then added an unbeaten 68 as Pakistan reached 210-8 before bad light curtailed play.
India went into the series knowing they will move up to third place in the ICC Test rankings if they win the series 2-0 - and will overtake second-placed England if they win all three Tests.
Pakistan handed a Test debut to left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir after paceman Umar Gul was ruled out with a back injury, while India recalled spinner Harbhajan Singh after a year out of the Test side.
The visitors have struggled to find a consistent opening partnership in recent months, and Salman Butt had made just one before he was bowled by an inswinger from left-armer Zaheer.
Younus Khan followed Butt back to the pavilion when he was caught at fine leg by Munaf Patel as Zaheer claimed his second wicket, recording impressive figures of 2-25 from his first eight overs.
Pakistan were then in trouble at 59-3 when Butt's opening partner Yasir Hameed became Kumble's first victim as India captain.
The new skipper marked his elevation to captaincy with a superb display of leg-spin, and all his three wickets were clean bowled.
It did not get much better for the visitors in the afternoon session as Sourav Ganguly's gentle medium pace had the dangerous Mohammad Yousuf trapped lbw, while captain Shoaib Malik was caught behind for a duck to leave his side struggling at 83-5.
Misbah and keeper Kamran Akmal staged a partial recovery, adding 39 for the sixth wicket, but when Akmal was bowled by a quick one from Kumble that kept low, it left Misbah batting with the tail. 
Debutant Tanvir was adjudged lbw to Harbhajan, while paceman Shoaib Akhtar was completely deceived as Kumble claimed his third wicket.
But in the evening session, Sami helped Misbah with a doughty display of crease occupation as Kumble rotated his bowlers and took the second new ball late on but could not make the breakthrough.
Misbah took 204 deliveries in his unbeaten 71, although he nearly departed two overs before the close when he smashed Patel hard to Harbhajan at square leg, and the spinner got a hand to it but was unable to hold on to a fierce chance.
Sami was content to play a supporting role, though he did cut loose when he hoisted Ganguly for a huge straight six.
"The wicket is getting slower and slower, so it's hard work and obviously we were bowling with an old ball. So it's not easy.
"Anil Kumble's first day in office has been good - in the first two sessions we got eight wickets.
"What else can a captain expect on the first day of a Test match when you know that the wicket is going to play really well?
"We'll look to get them out as early as possible and then put runs on the board."
"The pitch showed variable bounce but some of the batsmen played shots they would surely reconsider. "Misbah was at his fighting best and he and Sami played according to instructions."
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