Fallen heroes sneak in early hours of the day; fans missing

Mumbai, Mar 29 (UNI) India's fallen cricketing heroes sneaked in home after their disastrous World Cup campaign in the early hours of the day.

The players arrived at different destinations in the country with coach Greg Chappell, whose fate now hangs in balance, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel arrived in Mumbai amidst a tight security blanket to stop any untoward incident.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah and Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty were present at the airport to receive them.

Unlike four years ago, when they returned to a hero's welcome after reaching the finals in South Africa, the fans stayed at home.

Instead, present at the terminal were hordes of mediamen and security personnel, posted there to provide adequate protection to the players from irate fans.

The players who arrived at Mumbai, gave the mediapersons waiting at the international terminus a slip, they as disembarked at the domestic terminal and were immediately whisked away.

Meanwhile, Mumbai police are not taking chances and have increased security at Sachin Tendulkar's residence as well as Zaheer Khan's residence, after a mob had earlier attacked the later's restaurtant in Pune following the team's loss to Bangladesh at the World Cup.

UNI