Toi Sports Reporter Sahil Malhotra was attacked in London on Monday. Timesofindia.com in London: It was close to midnight and the train line on the main train was about to get to Northwick Park – my final destination. The match ended at Lord a few hours ago and after a quick bite and a lot of walking near Tower Bridge with my colleagues covering Anderson-Tendelkar Trophy, all dispersed in their respective directions.My section did not overlap with anyone, so I covered the last leg of the way home – just as I had in London last week. Northwick Park Station wears an abandoned view in midnight hours, but in the last week I have never felt anything suspicious. Monday evening, however, turned out to be different.Immediately after I left the station, I took the east towards Lulworth Avenue and continued to hum my favorite songs. It seemed like a business as usual before I immediately turned from the station and saw five men at the age of 20, approaching me. Immediately from their body language to cover half of their faces with Balaclava – nothing felt at that time.I immediately froze because I had a lot of expensive equipment for me: a laptop, two mobile phones and personal belongings. Two out of five began to go to me, while the other three continued walking on the station to watch on the road. The scene felt directly from the Bollywood film in a residential area that was not generously lit.
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Immediately reminded me that my travel colleagues were poorly treated and abused by drunken hooligans before the game started. And here I was at the heart of it alone at night.The first reaction was to take a few steps back, and then one of them aggressive and said, “Calm, bro. We just want to talk.” Of course, it was hard to stay calm for the moment because I knew what would happen next. The second guy asked me for a camera next second because I wore a bulky tripod in my hand.When they didn’t get an ideal answer from me, one of them begged me to remove a smart watch from my left wrist. At that time I started screaming when he took adrenaline and panic. When one of the masked men stretched the knife in the jacket, I gave the tripod a wild swing and they took a few steps back.At this divided moment, I began to run for my life – quite literally – and shouted the saddest pad of pandjab, hoping someone from nearby houses would come to help. While none of this happened, one guy chased me 50 meters-what felt much longer-forehead than he got because the next neighborhood was better illuminated.
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Still shaken, the first thing I did was to call my wife who was deep in sleep because it was close to 5:00. But then I needed to hear a familiar voice, and when I regained peace, another call went to my colleagues with whom I shared accommodation.In a fraction of a second, they rushed to my place, calmed me down and went home together. I was still in a state of shock, because it was a narrow escape from mugging – or worse.Many thoughts were surrounded in my head. What if they managed to get a knife? What if they took my valuables – some personal and some official? What if they got away with my passport?My thoughts were constantly going through me, but at that moment I looked at the tripod and smiled. The moment I took England, I cursed it because it cost me Rs. 9,000 in an excessive luggage fee due to size. Still, I was here. On the last day of London, this piece of metal saved my life, equipment and things.
