They were said to be wary but once their security concerns were addressed Dravid and his men are happy for the focus to return to the cricket, especially as they have to find a way to somehow get off the bottom of the table.

"In every game we try to get the team on the winning track and as far as the blasts are concerned, we will play as blasts keep happening. We are not too bothered about that as we have to play on the ground," said Misbah-ul-Haq.

Its the Royals who have all the regrouping to do. The players left Goa this morning for their home base. Over the last couple of days reports have emerged that players such as captain Shane Warne and Graeme Smith have been unsure of getting back into the city but clearly some hard backroom convincing has convinced them to stay put.

"There were concerns raised by several players about what would we be doing as a franchisee and what would the IPL be doing in terms of the security. We heard those concerns and we have put in place a lot of measures to address those concerns," said Fraser Castellino, the CEO of Rajasthan Royals.

And of course, if the Royals win the formality of a semi-final place will be completed and against a team that has won just 2 of their 9 matches, they start overwhelming favourites.