The Indian Twenty20 World Cup hero Shivam Dube was so confident a train ride in disguise would keep him incognito that he waited until after his fellow passengers fell asleep to break out the snacks — not needing them while they were awake, he thought.
But just as Dube thought his ruse would come crashing down, it was his quick-witted wife who saved the day for the 32-year-old.
He planned to go home soon after India won the World Cup — defeating New Zealand in the final, in Ahmedabad on Sunday — to be with his four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter.
All flights were booked to Mumbai on Monday, so Dube risked being identified and mobbed with wife Anjum and a friend on the train.
“There was no flight, so early morning I took a train to Mumbai from Ahmedabad,” the all-rounder said.
“I had a cap, a mask and a full-sleeved t-shirt on.
As his companions boarded ahead of him, Dube snuck on at the last minute and went to his coach, climbing to the top berth in hope of a silent eight-hour journey.
He, however, had a lump in his throat when the ticket-checker entered and loudly asked whether the Shivam Dube among those aboard was the famous cricketer.
Anjum jumped in: “No, no. How can he be here?”
Dube ultimately needed to get the police involved before he got out of Mumbai, however.
“They assumed I was landing at the airport and were shocked when I told them, no, I’m coming by train,” he said in a telephone interview with the paper.
“They gave me police escort so everything was easy and exit smooth.”
Cricketers are treated like rock stars in India, where the sport is regarded as something of a religion.
The game’s further entrenchment in the world’s most populous nation was underscored on Sunday, when India became the first team to capture three men’s T20 World Cup titles.