It was hardly likely that Mumbai would host the second Test as scheduled against England in the expected aftermath of the heinous terror attack. The BCCI, in a move to appease the ECB further, have shifted the venue. But the question is: is the tour still on?
While the BCCI met with the ECB officials immediately after the blasts to naturally cancel the remaining two one day internationals, they stated confidently that they had convinced the ECB to continue with the Test series once the England players returned.
In furthering that cause, the venue has been shifted to Chennai. But given that the cricketers have suffered a major jolt by watching one of their favourite hotspots in flames, the England skipper is in no mood to order his troops to march back to India in a hurry.
Kevin Pietersen stated in no uncertain terms that he was not keen to convince his men to go back to India if they did not feel safe. The mood is such that the players were ready to run the moment they heard of the attacks and given that they will now be sending time with their families back home and before Christmas, the cheer will have gone out of the tour and perhaps leave the cricketers feeling more vulnerable when trying to keep their commitment to complete the Tests.
Leaving kits at the Taj?
Already the Champions League Twenty20 has been postponed and the ECB is yet to confirm if the England team, and a full strength one in that, will actually fly down to India in less than a week’s time. They are unwilling under their security clearance has come their way and it will take time given that the war against the terrorists is still on in the third successive night.
Michael Vaughan talked of the fact that the England team had deposited their Test cricket kits in one of the rooms at the Taj and that the performance squad of which he was a team was to be scheduled to stay in Mumbai but was shifted to Bangalore and had perhaps spared the England team a few personal tragic tales of its own. That is how close to home it has hit England whose Middlesex team was to arrive in Mumbai a couple of days ago.
