By Amlan Chakraborty
NEW DELHI, March 11 (Reuters) - 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.
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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.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)