As Mumbai kept burning and the army tried rescuing hostages from the two five-star hotels in the southern suburb, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) office, not very far from those areas inflicted by terror attacks, managed to pull a stunt of its own.
The BCCI, after day-long talks with the England Cricket Board (ECB), managed to convince the latter to allow the Test series beginning next month to continue as per schedule. The remaining two One-dayers of the seven-match series have been called off but the Test series will go on, the ECB said in a statement.
However, the BCCI officials were still not ready to come on record about the issue and kept saying it was still for the governments to take a decision in the backdrop of the attacks. "A decision will be taken in the next 24 hours," said board secretary N Srinivasan.
However, Lalit Modi, in his capacity as the chairman of BCCI's tournaments and fixtures committee, confirmed just before the ECB sent its release, that the Test series was on.
Mumbai is one of the venues for the two-Test series where the second game will be played from December 16. The first Test is scheduled to be played in Ahmedabad from December 11.
It isn't, though, certain as yet whether Mumbai will host the match. Both the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Trident, which bore the brunt of the terror attacks, are regular haunts for visiting teams, officials and fans. Incidentally, the Brabourne Stadium, venue to the Cricket Club of India (CCI), where the Test was to be played, is just 200m from the Trident Hotel.
According to reports, the BCCI is also trying to find an alternate venue in the southern part of the country to host the second Test.
ECB managing director Hugh Morris refuted reports that the ECB had asked the BCCI to consider cancelling the upcoming two-Test series in India. "I can refute the report that we asked Mr Srinivasan to cancel the Test series," he said.
"We did not request the cancellation of the Test series. Whenever England play cricket, we act on security advice. If our security advice says that it is safe to play a two-Test series, then that is what we will do," he told the media back in London.
England's security apparatus, apparently, has given the go-ahead. On Thursday, the England team was stranded in Bhubaneshwar, where the fifth One-dayer was played. They cancelled their flight to Guwahati, the venue for the next ODI, and will now fly to Delhi on their way back to London.
The Indian team members, meanwhile, have been allowed to fly back home for the time being.
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