Beginning of The End

VII

The next day Virat reached the ground half an hour earlier than usual. He knew they had a net practice session that day so, he couldn't stay with just Jinks or Dev anymore.

"Raghu bhai, can I practice with the bowling machine?" Virat asked their throwdown specialist, the only person present in the ground beside him, after finishing his warm-up quickly and got an eager nod in reply.

"Of course, let's go." Raghu was trying to reign his enthusiasm, knowing he was about to see Virat practice after such a long time.

If he had to be honest with himself, as much as he was excited to see their star player play again, he was also a little worried.

He didn't know if Virat was out of touch with his game or he had changed his style, so he set the machine on a relatively low level, throwing some easy balls his way. As the first few balls passed by, Raghu quickly realized that he had been correct.

Virat's techniques had changed.

Following his return into the world of cricket, everyone had their assumptions and theories. People were raising questions regarding his fitness, questioning if he should be allowed back this easily since he had been out of the game for almost two years.

And even though his 378 remained unbeaten, everyone knew he had been on a century drought before that, not getting to his seventieth ton for a long time. So people had to make speculations regarding that. There were concerns from almost everyone if he could have got his form back or not.

And Virat had changed a lot.

Just not how the world had expected him to.

Everyone knew about his aggression on the field. But Raghu could only stand back and think that Virat seemed a lot calm compared to this one.

Not externally. On the outside, he could not tell what was going on in his mind. It was like he had put up a shield between the rest of them and his actual self. But it was the way he was playing that was aggressive. It was dominant, and Raghu could tell that he was pouring his entire energy into the shots he played.

Unbeknownst to either of them, they had been at it for over an hour now. The rest of the team had already arrived and could see how Virat was playing. It almost seemed as if his life depended on each ball that came his way.

As he hit one shot particularly hard, the ball tore through the nets and flew outside, making all of them jump.

"I think that's enough for today Virat, get some rest." There was no room for argument in Ravi bhai's voice, and even though Virat looked like he wanted to protest, he nodded his head. Taking his helmet off, he walked towards the other side of the ground without even sparing a glance at the boys.

There were three bottles placed beside his kitbag, one of them being the infamous black water, the other one a steel flask, and the other looked like a steel flask but seemed larger. He quickly gulped the water down, finishing the bottle in mere seconds, before he sat on the ground and reached for the other flask.

"Did he start drinking again?" Hardik asked in a curious voice, his eyes wide as he looked at the stainless steel flask. Virat did seem to be forcing the liquid down his throat, a grimace on his face as he took small sips.

"He couldn't be hitting the ball like that if he was drinking." Raghu dismissed the possibility with a quick shake of his head, walking to stand beside them, and they all agreed with him.

"But what is he drinking?" Jassi voiced out his confusion when Virat finished his second bottle and reached for the third one instantly. They frowned in confusion as they saw Virat drinking this pleasantly, making them believe that there were three different drinks in the three bottles.