The passengers onboard the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Sayaji Express didn’t realise this, but in the wee hours of March 9, they had a T20 World Cup winner travelling with them. With all flights to Mumbai booked, Shivam Dube, along with his wife and a friend, decided not to wait and hopped onto the AC 3-tier coach of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Sayaji Express, to reach Mumbai, his home.
There was risk involved, but Dube was willing to take it in a bid to get to his two kids, who were both in Mumbai.
“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 told The Indian Express. “Me, my wife and a friend decided to take a train. The third AC tickets were available so we decided to book them.”
Dube knew he could get mobbed inside the train if people recognised him, so he went undercover, wearing a cap, mask and a full-sleeved t-shirt. As soon as he got into the train, he climbed on the top berth and hid under the thick brown railway blanket to conceal his identity.
“Everyone we spoke to was worried, family and friends. What if someone recognised me at the station or inside the train?,” Dube said of his plan. “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. 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.”
When the ticket checker came and asked, “Shivam Dube? Woh kaun hai, cricketer [who’s this, the cricketer]?” Dube’s wife straightaway said: “No, no. woh kahan se aayega (where will he come from)?” The TC moved on.
Dube made it through the journey without anyone recognising him but once he reached Mumbai in the afternoon, he had to call the police for help, who themselves were shocked that he was coming by train. “They thought I was landing at the airport but were surprised when I told them that I was travelling by train. I was provided a police escort, so things were easy and the exit was smooth.”
It was an eventful end to the night for Dube, who had hours earlier smashed an unbeaten 26 off eight balls to push India over the 250-mark as the hosts defeated New Zealand by 96 runs in the final in Ahmedabad. Dube had a blockbuster T20 World Cup, scoring 235 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 169.06.
