For the first time ever terror has really struck at the heart of cricket when a group of fanatical and highly trained terrorists ran on a rampage in the financial capital of India. Mumbai was left bleeding yesterday and all agree that things are never going to be the same again. Reports confirm that almost 125 people have lost their lives to this completely barbaric and senseless act from these sick bastards.

How does this affect cricket? After what happened yesterday, westerners will be hesitant to travel to the country for some time. Its not that India has not witnessed terror attacks before, but the scale and magnitude of yesterdays attack has left everyone shell-shocked.

England’s remaining ODI tour has been the first casualty, followed by the inaugural Champions League. The 2 ODIs have been cancelled with the fate of the test series to be decided by the ECB soon. Lalit Modi announced that the Champions League has been postponed until early next year. Cricket Australia has advised all its players not to travel to India, but that is to be expected. Most of the visiting players were going to stay at the Taj or the Oberoi where terrorists took hostages, and which have seen the bloodiest seige in the history of the country.

Will this mean the end of cricket in India? I think not and most will agree with me. In the larger scheme of things this is a minor irritant. India generates over 70% of ICC’s revenues. Countries will either have to travel to India or play India to keep themselves financially stable. But I think that Mumbai may not play host to an international match for quite some time. The scars of yesterday are not going to be healed quickly. Although, to be fair to the Mumbaikars, the city has always been proud of the way it has stood up and recovered after a major incident like yesterday.

What will change? For one, security will certainly be beefed up in all matches from now on, and this includes IPL and domestic matches. Any visiting team will want to do a comprehensive security audit themselves before visiting India. The safety factor will be The Key criteria from now on before any team or an international player comes to India.

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