Niyaz and Azra Khatoon Ahmad were more than a little nervous when the Mahanagari Express brought them to Mumbai’s Dadar railway station late on Wednesday.

The elderly couple were coming from Azamgarh in eastern Uttar Pradesh, traveling Sleeper Class, worried if Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists would be on the prowl targeting passengers from north India.

At the station, they were welcomed by a large group of youngsters led by their son Iqbal Abdulla — the only Mumbai player in the India Under-19 team which won the World Cup in Malaysia.

“Back home we had read a lot about whatever is happening in Mumbai. If not for Iqbal’s celebration, it would have been a difficult decision to take the train to Mumbai, the fear was at the back of the mind,” Niyaz told The Indian Express. Abdulla was brought to Mumbai more than four years ago by an eager coach and the left-arm spinner made his Ranji debut last year. He took 10 wickets in Malaysia and was also a member of the U-19 team which toured South Africa.

This week, being the only player from Mumbai, the Class 12 Arts student was given the responsibility of carrying the World Cup trophy from Bangalore, where the team arrived from Kuala Lumpur, and handing it over to the BCCI headquarters. He kept it in the kitchen of his 350-sq ft Kurla house since that was the only free space available in his tiny dwelling, but was worried sick it could get stolen.

... contd.