Rohit Kumar
NEW DELHI, Mar 11: Not only in the cricket field, the Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube likes to take challenges even in real life that reflected in his decision to take an unconventional route to return to his Mumbai home from Ahmedabad within hours after lifting the T20 World Cup defeating New Zealand in the finals in which he made significant contributions in taking the team’s score past 250 and beyond the reach of the New Zealanders.
All this only to reach home at the earliest to be with his four-year-old son Ayaan and two-year-old daughter Mehwish, who were at home in Mumbai. Late on Sunday, the 32-year old tall left-hander with a golfer’s swing had hit three fours and two sixes in the 20th over of the Indian innings, and after a few hours, he accompanied by his wife Anjum and a friend were in an AC 3-Tier coach of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Sayaji Express, hiding under a thick brown Railway blanket, traveling back home.
Apparently due to heavy rush to witness the final match in Ahmedabad, all Monday morning flights from Ahmedabad to Mumbai were booked in advance. Unable to manage a flight ticket, Dube and the duo decided to take a train to return home. India’s T20 World Cup hero knew he risked getting mobbed but he was ready to take the challenge. “There was no flight available, so I decided to take a train from Ahmedabad early in the morning to Mumbai. We could have gone by road but the train was faster,” Dube said.
He revealed how they put in place a plan to keep his identity under wraps. “Me, my wife and a friend decided to take a train. 3rd AC tickets were available so we decided to book them. Everyone we spoke to was worried, family and friends. What if someone recognized me at the station or inside the train?”
Dube also needed the right attire for the undercover journey. “I wore a cap, a mask and a full-sleeved T-shirt. It was a 5.10-am train so we hoped there would not be many people on the platform,” he said. But that was not to be — there were many fans, some still in India colours, with the frenzy of witnessing India winning the Cup still fresh. So the plan was slightly tweaked. “I told my wife that I will wait in the car till five minutes before the train’s departure. After that, I will rush to board the train,” Dube said.
Once inside the allotted coach, he quickly climbed to the top berth. For some brief moments, there were shivers as the ticket checker came. “Shivam Dube? Who is he, cricketer?” Anjum didn’t miss a beat: “No, no. Woh kahan se aayega (where will he come from)?” The TC moved on.
After that close call, and tired from the long tournament and celebrations, Dube tried to sleep through those eight hours, hoping that fellow passengers wouldn’t realize that they had amidst them a freshly crowned world champion from the Indian team.
“Once I got down from the berth but no one recognized me on the way to the washroom and back. The train trip was smooth but I was worried about getting down at Borivali in broad daylight. I couldn’t have escaped attention there,” he said. Dube eventually called the police for help. “They thought I was landing at the airport but were surprised when I told them that I was traveling by train. I was provided a police escort so things were easy and the exit was smooth,” he said with a laugh. By afternoon, he was home where Ayaan and Mehwish were waiting.
The tournament had gone by the book for Dube. Coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Surya Kumar Yadav had defined his role clearly and the late-order batsman followed it to the T — scoring 235 at an impressive average of 39 and strike rate of 169. Batting mostly in the final overs, including that crucial 26 off eight balls in the final, he hit 17 sixes and 15 fours in the tournament. “They asked me to ensure that the run rate never dropped when I batted and to keep runs down when bowling,” he said.
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