It was as if the Indian cricket coach John Wright had yielded his place to Javed Miandad for a while on Saturday.

A long and animated conversation between the wily Pakistani coach and Indian captain Sourav Ganguly prompted a race between lensmen to capture the moment at Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore this afternoon, a day ahead of a crucial match between their teams.

Sourav did the listening most of the time as Miandad spoke about his current job of coaching the talented Pakistan team. The physical fitness of the players and how to nurse fast bowlers were some of the topics Miandad covered.

For instance he said many fast bowlers thought that having strong muscles was the key to success. That was not the only attribute, said Miandad, recalling that some of the fastest bowlers in history were lean such as Imran Khan.

The long session was briefly interrupted by the English Umpire David Shepherd who sought autographs of the two men on the tiny bats he was carrying.

The Ganguly-Miandad talk is a reflection of the spirit in which the current series between the two arch-rivals is being played.