Beginning of The End

XVI

It was decided that Virat would be playing the next match. The selectors and the team management would not have it any other way, especially with the three games being against South Africa.

Everyone on the team was against the idea. But they also knew that if Virat wanted to do something, no one could change his mind. And his decision was the same as the management.

Mahi bhai, Rohit, the entire team were worried about him, but no one could gather the courage to say anything to him. But they couldn't sit idle and watch Virat spoil his already weak health either. So they had a plan to put in action now.

They started the day before the first match when the entire team was in the gym. Yuzi looked at Mahi bhai for confirmation and began when he got a discreet nod in return.

Suddenly Yuzi let out a loud groan of pain, acting as if he had hurt his leg while stretching and Kuldeep rushed to his side. "See, you've hurt yourself again. You should have just stayed in your room." He chided in a voice loud enough for the entire room to hear.

The volume startled Virat, who was on the other side of the room. He stopped in the middle of his squats to see what was going on. The words sounded particularly odd to him. But when he saw Kuldeep wagging his finger at Yuzi, he continued with his exercise.

Seeing that, Kuldeep frowned in disappointment and turned back towards Mahi bhai. But he just nodded at him reassuringly, as if telling him that he would handle it, and Rohit nudged his chin in Hardik's direction.

"Don't you understand the concept of resting, Harry?" Bhuvi chastised Hardik openly, trying his best to sound stern, and glared at him. "What? What did I do?" Hardik stammered at being told off for no reason, wondering why he needed to rest at all.

And Rohit felt like banging his head on the wall when he realized that Hardik had forgotten their plan. Why was he so forgetful? Rohit thought ruefully.

"Oh, my back, you mean." Hardik covered up when Bhuvi looked at him pointedly, finally getting what they were supposed to do. "But I'm fine now. It doesn't even hurt anymore." Hardik wailed in a high-pitched voice, attracting almost everyone's attention.

"You can barely stand on your feet, Harry," Bhuvi said with a tone of disappointment, trying to look at Virat through the side of his eyes.

Virat once again stiffened at the noise and turned around to see what it was all about. But when he turned to look at them, Bhuvi and Hardik, who had been waiting for a reaction from him, hastily looked the other way.

Hardik had been pretending faintness and leaning against the wall while Bhuvi scolded him for trying to play the hero. But when they saw Virat turning back towards his workout, they looked at Rohit and Mahi bhai with a helpless look.

Next went Rohit. He waited for a few minutes before he started doing bench-presses so that it wouldn't be too obvious. 

He did a couple of sets before he pretended to have lost his grip on the dumbbells' causing Mahi bhai to rush towards him, holding them up for him. Rahul also hurried to help him and cleared his throat loudly.

"Didn't Mahi bhai tell you to stay in your room?" He said in a loud voice, sneakily trying to look at Virat, who was behind him. Getting no reaction from Virat, Rohit nudged Mahi bhai, and he nodded his head.

"You don't have to play the hero Ro. If you're not feeling well, then you could have rested for a while. You don't have to play all the matches. You know that, right?" He questioned in a pointed tone trying not to look at Virat