Washington, Feb. 24 (PTI): An FBI special agent in Delhi who cancelled a cricket match and flew to Mumbai after terror struck the city has been singled out and praised by the agency’s boss for working overtime to rescue Americans.

“The day before the attacks in Mumbai, special agent Steve Merrill, our legal attaché in the Delhi office, was enjoying his first day off in nearly a month,” said FBI director Robert Muller at the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday.

“He was on his way to Jodhpur to play cricket for the US embassy team in the Maharaja’s annual tournament. For the record, you do not need to know how to play cricket to work in the FBI’s New Delhi office, but it certainly does not hurt,” Muller said amid laughter from the audience.

“The moment he learnt of the attacks, Steve made his way to Mumbai,” the FBI chief said. He immediately contacted his Indian counterparts and got to work. “No red tape, no turf battles, just first responders working shoulder-to-shoulder in a time of crisis,” Muller said.

Steve helped rescue Americans trapped inside the Taj hotel, set up lines of communication with the FBI and intelligence community counterparts in India and co-ordinated the arrival of the FBI’s rapid deployment team.