TNN

Kolkata, Mar 21: If the Lahore attack on the Sri Lanka team made you think just high-flying cricketers were in danger, then sample this. 

A vehicle in which three West Zone cricketers — Iqbal Abdulla, Cheteshwar Pujara and Bhavik Thaker — were travelling, was hijacked by two motorcycle-borne youths while the trio was on its way to Bhubaneswar airport from Cuttack after playing in the Deodhar Trophy final against East Zone on Wednesday. They were supposed to catch a flight to Kolkata where all three were to attend a training camp of IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders.

On being asked by the cricketers what they were up to, one of the 'kidnappers' said, "Don't worry, it will be all over in five minutes," as he forced himself into the driver's seat. However, even before he could take drive away, Pujara managed to get out of the vehicle, followed by Thaker and Abdulla.

"I was so scared that I did not know how to react," said Pujara on phone from Kolkata. "Everything happened so suddenly. The two guys just asked us to keep quiet as they were about to drive us away," added Thaker. "We have never been in such a situation before and with all sorts of things happening these days, we all got the scare of our lives," said Pujara. A shaken Thaker added, "They might have had weapons too so we prayed that they let us go."

The young men finally left with the car, leaving the three cricketers and their kit in the middle of nowhere. "We then called our local manager Bappi, who arranged for another car," said Thaker.

The president of Orissa Cricket Association (OCA), Ranjib Biswal, who did not known about the incident when TOI called him on Friday evening, later 'clarified' that it was just a financial issue.

"It was not a security issue at all. The car owner had defaulted on some payment and those were recovery agents who had come to pick the vehicle," claimed Biswal.