He was already in a bad mood because of the constant reminders he was getting of his beloved English cricket team's thrashing in the short form of the game (India's test defeat conveniently ignored).
But things got worse when the taxi taking the fellow to the airport found itself stuck behind a bus. India’s narrow roads and the proportions of the bus colluded to prevent any traffic from moving an inch for more than 15 minutes.
Inexplicably, the other drivers seemed content to wait in the stifling heat. Sweating profusely and bristling at the prospect of missing his flight back to England, my friend decided enough was enough.
Marching up to the bus driver, he demanded an explanation for this behaviour. The driver shrugged and motioned to the occupants. In the cruellest of twists, it was none other than almost the entire Indian cricket team itself.
I say almost because the bus was holding up the entire street while waiting for a few players to turn up to board. This was too much for our banking friend to bear, as he explained somewhat enthusiastically to the driver — so much so that the bus was duly moved out of the way.
He got his flight, otherwise he would have posed a bigger threat to the Indian team than the English one-day team did.