Read on Twitter
A few days ago I shared a story on a frightening train journey by the North Zone team from Pune to Delhi in 1984. Here is an adventurous bus journey by South Zone from Delhi to Patiala. I, (lensman) V Sudershan and Harpal Singh Bedi were privileged to get seats on the bus 
The South Zone team flew in on the morning of December 31, 1986. Some of the prominent members of that team were Roger Binny, Raghuram Bhat, Sadanand Viswanath, PC Prakash, Carlton Saldhana. Our friend @wvraman was a rookie on the circuit but acknowledged for his batting talent
We assembled at the Ferozeshah Kotla and began the journey around noon hoping to make it before it became dark. Those were times of disturbances in Punjab and traveling after sunset was generally avoided. There were some team members not happy with the idea of a road journey
We stopped for a late lunch at Karnal. It was an extended break since the restaurant, part of a resort, had some great food. The players, tired from the long haul which began early morning, stretched their legs, had a round of tea before boarding the bus. Dusk was minutes away
It became dark in a matter of minutes. Patiala was more than an hour away. Importantly, we were entering Punjab way behind schedule. There was a sense of worry among some of the members because of the scary reports of incidents in the state. "Drive faster" someone yelled
Within minutes the bus encountered a Punjab Police barricade. Sudershan lost little time in stepping down and convincing the policemen. We had not travelled far when a patrol party signaled the driver to stop. "Make sure they are police," one scared player shouted from the back
The player couldn't be faulted. There were reports of extremists posing as policemen in some cases. We were encountering stoppages more than we had imagined. Just before Patiala, we met a stern policeman. "Are there any famous cricketers?" he demanded to know their names
From the front door, I pointed to Binny and Viswanath. The police inspector was mighty thrilled. We were assured there won't be any more halts but by the time we entered the gates of National Institute of Sports it was close to midnight. We were famished & it was freezing cold
Surprisingly, there was none to guide us from the Punjab Cricket Association. The poor reception left the players livid. The rooms too were not to their liking. “You have a story Vijay. There is going to be a walkout,” one player whispered. I stayed on. It was biting cold
Word was sent to the PCA officials in the town. Help came in the shape of four sikh gentlemen, who arrived with four room heaters. True to the Punjabi hospitality, they brought food from home as the ladies cooked fresh daal and rice. Tempers soothed. It was time to retire
The room heaters were of little comfort for the players who were left shivering, Viswanath was the most uncomfortable. "I slept with my wicketkeeping gloves on," he recalled his battle with the cold weather. @WValderrama remembered the "nice Punjabi food from nice people."
The room heaters proved costly for Carlton Saldhana. "I had brought woolen socks from England. They were a bit soggy so I hung them on the heater. To my horror they were burnt. I had bought them on Sunil Gavaskar's advice," remembered Saldhana, once tipped to play for India
The cold weather played havoc with the South Zone players. Bowlers struggled to grip the ball and then they were deprived of a crucial wicket too. "The batsman was stumped but the umpire ruled him not out. He probably was blinded by the fog on his specs," laughed Viswanath
South Zone lost that Deodhar Trophy semifinal to North Zone which had a formidable set of players in Manoj Prabhakar, NS Sidhu, Surender Khanna, Kirti Azad, Ashok Malhotra, Yashpal Sharma, Madan Lal, RS Ghai, Sanjeev Sharma and Ajay Sharma. Virtually a Test line up
