I’ve come to meet Tendulkar, said Fazal Mahmood

‘‘I came to meet Sachin just because he is a really great player’’, Fazal (77) told The Indian Express. ‘‘But no I did not speak to anyone else in the team.’’

Fazal’s heirs followed suit; Virender Sehwag was spotted sharing a laugh with Abdul Razzak. Pakistan coach Javed Miandad went to Indian stand-in captain Rahul Dravid and exchanged pictures of the current Test, then waited for Sachin Tendulkar while chatting with his Indian counterpart John Wright.

Miandad, known for striking up friendships with Indian cricketers, also chatted with Sourav Ganguly. ‘‘Peeth kaisa hai ab (how is your back),’’ Miandad asked a cheerful Ganguly. ‘‘I’m fit and fine’’ was the response.

The Indian captain then walked up to his counterpart, who was talking to a Bengali journalist. ‘‘Inzi backhke rehna. He will talk to you about one thing and write something else,’’ said Ganguly, as Inzi and the reporter broke into loud laughter.

Indeed, if a team’s confidence and mood is mirrored in the captain’s demeanour, India should bounce back at Rawalpindi. Ganguly was in fine spirits and even had a workout at the nets once the post-match ceremonies were over.

He went over the main playing area and batted for about half an hour on the pitch used for the Test, facing the bowling of Murali Kartik, Ramesh Powar and Ashish Nehra. Coach John Wright was also on hand acting as an umpire.

The only Indian with a serious look on his face was VVS Laxman, currently the press box’s hot tip to sit out the third Test. The Hyderabadi was seen going through videotape of his batting with team analyst S Ramakrishnan and John Wright. As his coach spoke, a pensive Laxman listened with keen attention.