Underneath the calm, emotions still running high

What brought him to the Bandra Kurla Complex BKC as Mumbai played Hyderabad? 8220;The team has their own man to do the massage, but I8217;m here just in case someone needs me,8221; he says, reflecting the city8217;s desire to be usefully, or even not-so-usefully employed, towards a cause.

No one8217;s looking to be distracted, though, nor in denial of November 26. And Mumbai players say they aren8217;t even attempting to wish away the thoughts and the traumatic images of a massacre. For a group of sportsmen 8212; for whom talking cricket is as all-consuming as playing it 8212; the last few days have seen all conversations leading to talk of the carnage and its painful aftermath. 8216;Moving on8217; and 8216;normalcy8217; are words spoken with a stammer, as they realise that the city stands brutally scarred, even if cricket will try and pick the pieces of Mumbai8217;s shattered facade.

Captain Wasim Jaffer admits candidly that it8217;ll be at least a year before visiting teams get absolutely comfortable with the idea of playing in Mumbai. 8220;What happened was really bad8230;the terrorists firing on people at CST and the hotels from point-blank distance,8221; he sighs, the shock of something so gruesome happening at places he and his team-mates frequent, writ large.

With the Champions League deferred and the India-England Test moved out of Mumbai, the city faces the depressing prospect of very little cricket happening here at all. The Ranji Trophy tie, the first official cricketing activity on a fresh strip at the BKC hence, assumed great significance 8212; if nothing, just to sight those cricketing whites.

Deep into the corporate-cluster of glass-fronted buildings, away from the bustle of the city, a pavilion striking an idyllic if yet unfinished pose, complete with steeping grass-slopes which in calmer times might offer an enjoyable cricket-watching experience, the BKC was best suited to re-start Mumbai8217;s Ranji campaign.

In an almost symbolic afternoon of aggressive defiance, skipper Wasim Jaffer struck a double-ton 204 n.o. in a single day, even while shepherding an eager pupil, youngster Ajinkya Rahane, to his unbeaten 137. At 366-1 with Mumbai8217;s big, broad bats bludgeoning, and Mumbai cricket looked its usual commanding self. But players maintained there was no kidding themselves all was well with the world.

Hailing mostly from the suburbs, none were really caught Town-side on that fateful night, but India8217;s biggest terror-tragedy hardly escaped any of their truncated warm-up talk. Nobody risked full-scale practice, and as such Mumbai went into this game, edgy and anxious about what was happening outside of their cricket-framework.

8220;Usually they can8217;t stop talking about cricket. But these last few days, 90 per cent of what they speak is about the attack. On the field, they are focused on the game, but you can8217;t stop the mind from going back to that tragedy the moment they step out. Still they8217;ve got those big hundreds and cricket will play a role as the city heals,8221; says Chandrakant Pandit, director of the indoor academy here.

So, even as Jaffer reconnects with his big-scoring ways, and team-mates stop to applaud 8216;Ajju8217; and 8216;Wasimbhai8217; as day8217;s play ends, Mumbai cricket is looking to carry on. But don8217;t mistake the fluency in batting for return to normalcy. There8217;s a whole gamut of emotions 8212; apprehension, anxiety, anger 8212; Mumbai8217;s cricketers say, that8217;s raging inside.