The Delhi Ranji Trophy team were far from Mumbai during the terror strikes last month, but captain Aakash Chopra was also affected by the incident.

The former Indian opener had planned a mega launch of his book, titled Beyond the Blues, at the Taj Mahal hotel, with the entire Indian and English team scheduled to be present on the occasion.

“Yes, all preparations for my book launch were underway at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai and the publishers were actually on the verge of distributing invitation cards when the entire incident took place.

“We had planned to hold the launch on 22nd December, which would have been the fourth day of the second Test match — originally scheduled to be held in Mumbai — and I was expecting a lot of Team India players to be present. But I was totally aghast at what I saw on television and felt very bad when I saw the hotel going up in flames,” he says.

The launch has now been cancelled and Chopra is looking at new dates to hold the event. “But I shouldn’t be looking at my book launch getting disturbed when so many people have lost their lives, I can at least change or postpone the dates but certain losses are irreparable,” he adds.

Chopra is now considering holding the book launch in the first week of January and says this time, he will do it in Delhi itself. “I am looking towards early January as a possibility. Though it will not be possible for the entire Indian team to be present, I am hopeful some of them would be able to make it. Of course, the entire Delhi team will be present to support me,” he says.