The World Cup trophy was seized at the Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji airport for non-payment of duty. Customs officials claimed they had seized it despite the trophy being the one that had to be handed over to the winner.

The International Cricket Council, however, were quick to clear the misunderstanding. The ICC said they already have the original trophy.

The drama began when an Australia national was trying to pass through the green channel carrying a wooden box with the trophy. The trophy, a replica of the World Cup, was displayed in Colombo.

Customs department demanded that customs duty for the trophy would be Rs15 lakhs. Incidentally, the customs department had recently withdrawn the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s privilege to import sports goods without paying duty.

Interestingly, television channels worldwide were already broadcasting shots of Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara holding the World Cup in a photo shoot at the Wankhede stadium on Friday, but customs officials didn’t seem to have watched it.

When the news reached the press box, a scribe said: “It must be that someone in the customs may not have been given a ticket for the final. That trophy can get easily released with one world cup ticket final."