When New Zealand sensed their only opening in what had otherwise been a one-sided T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad, claiming four wickets for 23 runs in quick succession, Shivam Dube ended any lingering hopes. The all-rounder smashed three boundaries and two sixes in an unbeaten 26 off just eight balls to power India to a record 255 for 5. Hours later, after India sealed a historic title, the unlikely hero had to stage a bizarre escape to make it home to Mumbai.
In the early hours of Monday, Dube, his wife Anjum and a friend were unable to secure a flight out of Ahmedabad. With tickets finally booked on a train, the India all-rounder faced another problem, the risk of being recognised and mobbed by jubilant fans still celebrating the World Cup triumph.
His solution? Disappear in plain sight. Wrapped in a thick brown railway blanket, Dube hid himself on the top berth of an AC 3-tier coach on the Ahmedabad–Mumbai Sayaji Express.
“There were no flights available, so I decided to take a train early in the morning from Ahmedabad to Mumbai,” Dube told The Indian Express. “We could have gone by road, but the train was faster.”
The tall left-hander admitted that the unusual travel plan had worried friends and family, especially with the city still buzzing after India’s World Cup victory.
“Me, my wife and a friend decided to take the train. Third AC tickets were available, so we booked them. Everyone we spoke to was worried, family, friends. What if someone recognised me at the station or inside the train?”
So Dube needed a disguise. He “wore a cap, a mask and a full-sleeved T-shirt”, waited inside a car until five minutes before departure, and then hurried onto the platform to board the train. Once inside his coach, he quickly climbed to the top berth and stayed there.
Even the ticket checker nearly discovered him, but his wife stepped in. “‘Shivam Dube? Woh kaun hai, cricketer?’ the TC asked,” Dube recalled.
Anjum responded instantly: “No, no. Woh kahan se aayega?” (Where would he come from?) The TC moved on.
Dube managed to sleep through most of the eight-hour journey without being recognised. But the real test was yet to come, getting off the train in broad daylight at Borivali station.
“At night I got down from the berth to go to the washroom and no one recognised me,” he said. “The train journey was smooth, but I was worried about getting down at Borivali in broad daylight. I couldn’t have escaped attention there.”
In the end, help came from the police.
“I called them for assistance. They thought I was landing at the airport but were surprised when I told them I was travelling by train,” Dube said with a laugh. “They provided a police escort, so things became easy and the exit was smooth.”
