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7:44 AM
Mumbai: Saajan is a serious hanger-on with the Mumbai Ranji team. The self-trained masseur diligently lands up at their match venues, in vain hope of being summoned by someone, anyone with the lion-crest for that soothing rub after a hard day’s toil. He is not assured of employment for the simple reason that Mumbai have their own professional masseur.
In the last week, this cricket-obsessed fan went to Shivaji Park — the crematorium, not the Cricket haunt — and sobbed uncontrollably for ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the Terror attack. “I couldn’t stop myself that day,” he says, looking away from the pitch and the official cricket action resuming in the city for the first time since the attacks.
What brought him to the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) as Mumbai played Hyderabad? “The team has their own man to do the massage, but I’m here just in case someone needs me,” he says, reflecting the city’s desire to be usefully, or even not-so-usefully employed, towards a cause.
No one’s looking to be distracted, though, nor in denial of November 26. And Mumbai players say they aren’t even attempting to wish away the thoughts and the traumatic images of a massacre. For a group of sportsmen — for whom talking cricket is as all-consuming as playing it — the last few days have seen all conversations leading to talk of the carnage and its painful aftermath. ‘Moving on’ and ‘normalcy’ 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 Mumbai’s shattered facade.
Captain Wasim Jaffer admits candidly that it’ll be at least a year before visiting teams get absolutely comfortable with the idea of playing in Mumbai. “What happened was really bad...the terrorists firing on people at CST and the hotels from point-blank distance,” 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 — 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 Mumbai’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 Mumbai’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 India’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.
“Usually they can’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 can’t stop the mind from going back to that tragedy the moment they step out. Still they’ve got those big hundreds and cricket will play a role as the city heals,” 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 ‘Ajju’ and ‘Wasimbhai’ as day’s play ends, Mumbai cricket is looking to carry on. But don’t mistake the fluency in batting for return to normalcy. There’s a whole gamut of emotions — apprehension, anxiety, anger — Mumbai’s cricketers say, that’s raging inside.
Source: indianexpress.com
In the last week, this cricket-obsessed fan went to Shivaji Park — the crematorium, not the Cricket haunt — and sobbed uncontrollably for ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed in the Terror attack. “I couldn’t stop myself that day,” he says, looking away from the pitch and the official cricket action resuming in the city for the first time since the attacks.
What brought him to the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) as Mumbai played Hyderabad? “The team has their own man to do the massage, but I’m here just in case someone needs me,” he says, reflecting the city’s desire to be usefully, or even not-so-usefully employed, towards a cause.
No one’s looking to be distracted, though, nor in denial of November 26. And Mumbai players say they aren’t even attempting to wish away the thoughts and the traumatic images of a massacre. For a group of sportsmen — for whom talking cricket is as all-consuming as playing it — the last few days have seen all conversations leading to talk of the carnage and its painful aftermath. ‘Moving on’ and ‘normalcy’ 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 Mumbai’s shattered facade.
Captain Wasim Jaffer admits candidly that it’ll be at least a year before visiting teams get absolutely comfortable with the idea of playing in Mumbai. “What happened was really bad...the terrorists firing on people at CST and the hotels from point-blank distance,” 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 — 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 Mumbai’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 Mumbai’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 India’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.
“Usually they can’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 can’t stop the mind from going back to that tragedy the moment they step out. Still they’ve got those big hundreds and cricket will play a role as the city heals,” 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 ‘Ajju’ and ‘Wasimbhai’ as day’s play ends, Mumbai cricket is looking to carry on. But don’t mistake the fluency in batting for return to normalcy. There’s a whole gamut of emotions — apprehension, anxiety, anger — Mumbai’s cricketers say, that’s raging inside.
Source: indianexpress.com
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