The Secret: A Virat Kohli Fanfiction

Chapter 11: Match Day

I sat on the dressing room bench in the very corner away from the others. My leg was shaking uncontrollably and I was having trouble breathing. I was extremely nervous. This was it. The day I either make it or break it for myself. My first cricket match playing for my country. I could feel myself straighten when I thought about playing for my country, instantly feeling proud of myself. I looked up towards the roof of the place and sent up a silent prayer and thankyou to god and dad, whoever was listening.

I could hear the others nearby hussling and bustling about, doing what they had to, getting ready for the match.

I looked to the side when I heard footsteps coming closer. Cheeku was walking towards me with a slight smile on his face. He came closer and knelt infront of me.

"I know you must be feeling nervous but you don't need to. You wouldn't be here if you didn't deserve it. You are an amazing bowler and you will make the country proud and even if today doesn't go as good as expected remember that all of us, the whole team is extremely proud of you. I'm sure your dad would be looking down at you feeling proud of you too." After hearing the little pep talk from Virat I finally relaxed.

I was going to be a part of the playing eleven. Virat had lost the toss and we were made to bowl first. We all came into a huddle where Virat told us to play our best and keep the intensity up after which he handed me over my first ODI cap and I felt happy tears in my eyes. We jogged onto the field and immidiately took our positions.

After ten overs Sri Lankans were 60-1 and we were under a bit of pressure as we knew how good their side was. I was called on to bowl and I wished I could take atleast one wicket for the team in my over.

I bowled the first ball and it zipped past Dilshan's ear while he bent back a bit and didn't even attempt to play at that. I knew I had a little advantage over them as even though he was a great batsman and was experienced I had a bit of surprise element as he had never seen me before. I bowled a similar ball next and this time he ducked under it. I miscued the next ball and it came off as a low full toss which Dilshan hit a beautiful shot off. But Jaddu fielded it beautifully diving to his left just inside the boundary rope and they had run two before I got the ball back in my hands.

Next ball I decided to go for the inswinging yorker. I bowled the ball right at Dilshan's feet and it swung in sharply while he played and missed the ball by mere centimetres. The ball went on to hit the stumps and I jumped up in the air excited at my first wicket. Dilshan looked at me in shock and then looked down at the ball which had disturbed the stumps before walking off to the pavilion dejected. I was immidiately surrounded by everyone in my team and they all congratulated me.

The next two balls went for dots as Thisara Parera was the new man in. Next over was bowled by Bhuvi and he took another wicket for us.

At the end of the innings they had recovered well and were 250-6 with three of the wickets taken by Bhuvi, one by Shami, Ashwin and me each.

We walked back to the dressing room and I took a quick shower and sat on a seat beside my teammates while Rohit and Shikhar padded up and went on the pitch to play.

After thirty overs I was sure that we were going to lose but as Virat was still on the crease I still had hope. We had lost wickets in quick succession and were at 187-7 when I had to go in. After me only Bhuvi and Shami were left to bat but we still had 64 more runs to make. Even though we had enough balls we didn't have enough wickets in hand.

I walked in as Ashwin walked off and was met by Virat who gave me instructions to just defend the ball as there was no need to play big shots and look at him the whole time and as soon as he called for a single, run. He told me to try to let him be at the striker's end as much as possible.

I faced the first ball and it missed the edge of my bat narrowly. Malinga went up in appeal but the umpire refused him. I took a deep breath and defended the next ball well. The over got over after than and I let Kohli do what he does best. Chasing.

Soon enough we were 222-8 and I was batting on 5 while Kohli was on 97. The next ball came onto his bat well and he played a lovely drive through the covers. It was a crackling shot and as soon as his bat connected with the ball I knew it was going to be a boundary but we still ran hard to steal two runs. The ball rushed off to the boundary and Kohli took of his helmet and opened his arms wide acknowledging the applause for his century, raising his bat to the dressing room. I was happy for him and went over to hug him lightly.

"Congrats skipper!" I said with a grin on my face.

"We need to win this Elize." Was all he said before he got back to his crease and pulled the next ball for a six. Next ball he played with soft hands and called me for a single. It was risky and so he send me back but by that time I was already half way through and I couldn't reach back in time. I looked down in dissapointment and walked back to the dressing room.