India’s Twenty20 World Cup hero Shivam Dube thought a train ride in disguise would keep him incognito – until a ticket-checker yelled his name.
But just when Dube feared his ruse would fall apart, his quick-witted wife saved the day for the 32-year-old.
Dube planned to return home soon after India won the World Cup, beating New Zealand in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday to be with his four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter.
With all flights to Mumbai fully booked on Monday, Dube decided to travel by train along with his wife Anjum and a friend despite the risks of getting identified and mobbed.
“There was no flight available, so I decided to take a train from Ahmedabad early in the morning to Mumbai,” the all-rounder told the Indian Express newspaper.
“I wore a cap, a mask, and a full-sleeved t-shirt.”
While his companions boarded first, Dube slipped on at the last moment, made for his coach and climbed to the top berth, hoping for a quiet eight-hour ride.
He, however, had his heart in his mouth when the ticket-checker walked in and inquired loudly if the Shivam Dube among passengers was the famous cricketer.
Anjum quickly stepped in saying: “No, no. How can he be here?”
Dube eventually had to seek police help before he got down in Mumbai, though.
“They thought I was landing at the airport, but were surprised when I told them that I was travelling by train,” he told the paper.
“I was provided a police escort so things were easy and the exit was smooth.”
Cricketers enjoy rock-star-like status in India, where the game is considered something of a religion.
The game further cemented its popularity in the world’s most populous nation on Sunday when India became the first team to win three men’s T20 World Cup titles.
(Reuters)
