Watch: Unaware Nagpur police officers stop Team India support staff member Raghu from entering hotel

After winning the T20I series by 4-1, team India headed to Nagpur for the first ODI to be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on February 6. As the team was checking in at the Radisson Blu Hotel, the police officers stationed outside the hotel failed to recognise India’s throwdown specialist, Raghavendra Dwivedi aka Raghu. 

Raghu, who is an integral part of Indian team’s support staff since getting handpicked by legendary Sachin Tendulkar in 2011, handled the situation really well. The journalists, who were covering Team India’s arrival, notified the officers about Raghu being one of the coaches of the team and not an intruder.  

"Arey coach hai woh. Team ke saath hai. Bus see utra hai. (He's a coach... member of the team. He just deboarded the bus),” a journalist shouted. 

Here’s the video of the incident: 

Raghu’s journey in the Indian team

Raghu’s journey is worth knowing about. Once an aspiring cricketer from Karnataka, he had to cut short his dream after fracturing his hand. But the urge to serve the Indian team did not let him down and his ability to generate speeds in excess of 150 in throwdowns got him into the Karnataka state team. Fortunately for him, players visiting the National Cricket Academy took notice of him. One such was Tendulkar himself and he recommended Raghu to be a part of the Indian support staff. 

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Speaking of the Indian team, they have three ODIs lined up against England to prepare for the Champions Trophy 2025 scheduled to commence from February 19. It will be an important tournament for the team after they lost the home Test series against New Zealand and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. They even lost out on a chance to play the final of the World Test Championship 2025.