145;Hard to focus on cricket146;

He has been keeping an eye on the unnerving scenes from Mumbai as he tries to focus on his Ranji game on Saturday. Railways, fourth on the table 8212; just outside the quarter-final cut-off 8212; play third-placed UP in Group B, making the game crucial, but the 23-year-old is finding it hard to motivate himself.

8220;If I was in any position of authority, I would8217;ve stopped this match from happening. It8217;s been over 48 hours and Mumbai is still burning. How can we as Indians concentrate on playing, when one of the biggest tragedies is being played live on TV even as we speak?8221; he told The Indian Express.

Though most domestic players expectedly toe BCCI8217;s 8220;the show must go on8221; line 8212; the board is already pushing England to return for the Tests, even before they have left 8212; Rawat8217;s views give a different perspective before the start of the fifth round of Ranji games across the country on Saturday.

Mumbai8217;s home game against Hyderabad has been postponed by four days, but the rest of the matches will commence as scheduled, in the backdrop of the country8217;s worst terror attack.

Black arm-bands

Delhi opener Aakash Chopra agrees that the situation in Mumbai will be on the players8217; minds. 8220;Both the teams will wear black arm-bands and observe a minute8217;s silence before the start of play. In times like this, everything else takes a back seat. But, having said that, we have to play,8221; he says.

Gautam Gambhir, available to play for Delhi because of the cancellation of the last two one-dayers against England, declined to comment, avoiding getting involved in the debate.

But Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel, who is preparing for his team8217;s game against Punjab, confessed that the scenes from Mumbai have been on the back of his team8217;s mind. 8220;Everybody in the team is talking about the Mumbai attack. It would be tough for players to concentrate on the game, but what can we do? We have to play tomorrow,8221; he says.

Too shocked

The Mumbai team are too shocked to talk about cricket. They found themselves in the middle of trouble as soon as they landed home after their game against Saurashtra in Rajkot on Wednesday. They got calls informing them about the terror strikes in south Mumbai as they were collecting their baggage. Team physio Dr Aijaz Ashai considers himself lucky as he was metres away from the Vile Parle taxi bomb while he was travelling home. 8220;I still get a shiver down my spine when I think about it,8221; he said.

In normal circumstances, the extra four-day break that Mumbai will get would8217;ve been welcomed by any domestic player during this hectic season, but the postponement of their match doesn8217;t provide much comfort. 8220;I don8217;t want to have this kind of break. It8217;s quite traumatic when one hears about all these deaths,8221; says Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni. Skipper Wasim Jaffer, meanwhile, just hopes things will be back on track in his city.

8220;These are tough days. We8217;re all deeply hurt and feel sorry for the innocent people who lost their lives,8221; he said. 8220;I don8217;t know why these terrorists are doing such things. No religion teaches you to hurt people and kill them. I hope things calm down as soon as possible.8221;