Climb Every Mountain, With You (Shubman Gill x Ishan Kishan)

To be strong

The Test series went on to become almost painfully predictable as far as Shubman and Ishan's games were concerned.

More the rumours spread, worse things were called out from the crowd every time either of them went near the boundary or went out to bat or came back after being dismissed. They got so bad that being called a 'fag' or being asked to retire to spare India the shame became quite harmless in comparison.

Shubman, being a true Virat Kohli mentee, found that the worse things he heard, the better his batting got. By the end of the second Test, he had scored fifties in all four innings, including two hundreds. He had never felt better in control of his game. He was set the moment he went in to open with Rahul bhai. His shots were better timed than they ever were. He even fielded better than he thought he could, once running out Marsh in such a manner that Jaddu bhai posted a congratulatory message on Twitter and called him to rave about it afterwards. 

And for Shubman, the catcalls from the crowd mingled with wild cheers and standing ovation and 'LOVE YOU SHUBMAN' banners flashing from a sector of Indians in the crowd. 

But that was no comfort. Nor was India winning one Test and drawing the second and looking well set to win another Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Because the negativity affected Ishan in exactly the opposite manner.

He was going through the worst phase in his batting, having crossed into double digits only once in the four innings. Shubman could not recollect a single convincing shot he had played in the matches or in the nets since the drama started. No one could even tell him anything, Rahul bhai or the batting coach or anyone, because no one wanted to make him more nervous and wretched than he already was.

During fielding, he dropped so many catches in the deep and let so many runs leak....though he was India's best fielder usually.... Rahul bhai was forced to make him keep wickets instead of Rishabh to keep him away from the boundaries. That was where the abuses were heard most clearly.

Shubman, to spite the crowd, preferred to stand exactly on the boundary. He tried not to register on what they said, but treated the derogatory shouts as a collection of stray noise to fire him up and keep him on top of the game.

Some of the comments made its way more clearly to his ears. They made him cringe. They made him wonder how people even came up with things so creatively ugly and repulsive. 

But it didn't matter to him.

It wasn't like they received no support either. Sometimes, they would see a poster on the big screen congratulating the two of them, or saying their true fans would be always stand by them. 

Virat bhai had always said fame came at the great price.

Shubman had never appreciated that so much before.

Every day, a thousand times, he told Ishan, fiercely, "I love you, Ishu. I love you, Ishu. I love you, Ishu."

Ishan would be tearful most of the times when he said it back. "I love you, Shubi. I love you, Shubi. I love, Shubi."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The third Test started the same way.

After Ishan's dismissal, for the first time Shubman brought up the topic of cricket. It took him a lot of courage to get it out. 

"Ishu, you need to be strong, you know that, right?"

Ishan took off his helmet and gloves and tossed them down dejectedly.

"How can you be so strong, Shubi?" he asked. He actually sounded curious, like Shubman held the key to a mystery, and he wanted to have the key, too. "All the time I keep thinking of what must be going on back at home and-"

"Don't," said Shubman harshly.

"You are in denial," said Ishan, sighing.

"Yes, for the series!" said Shubman. "This series is too important to spoil by thinking of what is to come when we return home!"

"I have never spent so long without talking to my parents." Ishan buried his head in his hands.

"Neither have I, Ish, but the series-"

"The series! The series is not going to save our lives from being torn apart, Shubman!"

Shubman knelt down in front of him to look into his eyes.

"Our lives are not going to be torn apart, you hear that, Ish?" he said softly. "I am not saying it's going to be easy, but nothing can separate you and me, and so long as we have each other, we can fight through anything."

Ishan took both of Shubman's hands in his. "I have never seen someone as naive as you, Shubi."

"I'm not being naive." Shubman scowled. "I am not saying anything is going to be easy ever again. But...."

Ishan kissed his forehead, kissed the frown away. "But?"

"I love you, and I'm never giving you up."