Mohali: Guess what was the essence of motivational speaker Mike Horn's pep talk to the Indian cricket team ahead of the high-octane semi-final clash against Pakistan? Adventure stories from South Africa.

And yes, there was not one word spoken on cricket or Pakistan! MiD DAY has learnt that Horn spent close to an hour with the Indian team on Monday during when he talked about his personal adventures and life in general.

"The players were very happy. It was a very different experience for them to listen to Horn's adventures," Indian team's mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton said.

Some of the players said that the idea behind Horn not discussing cricket was to keep their mind stress-free going into a high-energy game.

Pakistan have figured their own way to tackle stress they have simply decided to take the day off tomorrow.

"We have had enough practice. The players need some recovery time. That's why we took the decision to have no practice. It is an absolute rest day," team manager Intikhab Alam said.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag had batting practice on the granite slab which the Pakistani batsmen had used over the last two days.

The 'slate practice', as it is called, was introduced to the Pakistan team when he guided them in England in 2004.

"It's nothing special. Yes, the ball comes on to the bat nicely, that's it," Tendulkar told MiD DAY.