Clean Bowled

1

19th November 2023

"With this the Aussies lift their sixth ODI title, in stunning fashion as Travis Head powered home the team with a fierce century, defeating India with 6 wickets."

The intensity of these words settled onto his heart as he looked at Rohit bhai's slumped shoulders, Virat bhai's contorted face as he walked towards the stands to where Anushka bhabi stood, Siraj's shaking form as Jassi bhai hugged him. And he couldn't help but blame himself. If only he hadn't performed so badly, if only he could perform his best today, they would have been celebrating their win with another 1.4 billion countrymen, with him picking up Virat bhai on his shoulders just like his brother did years ago with Sachin sir. But the reality was far different, he had let down everyone.

.........................................

He stared at his phone for a while, and gathered courage to pick it up. As soon as it connected, he was greeted with the booming voice of his father.

"..aise hi chalta raha toh nikaal denge tujhe team se, ek match nahi jeeta paya. Huh. Worthless."

"Papa ji woh Virat bhai bula rahe hai, main aap se baad mein baat karta hoon" He made up an excuse, gulping his emotions down his throat.

"Dosti yaari ke chakkar mein apna kaam matt bhul, koi bhai wai nahi hota, sab saale tujhe out of form karke khud accha khel ke credit lenge ab"

Not being able to hear anymore, he disconnected his phone and threw it on the bed.

......................

Standing under the shower, he recalled the past few days, his mind fogged with self doubts, hear heavy with heartbreak. He remembered how Virat bhai, Rohit bhai, Jaddu bhai, Jassi, Rahul bhai and Dravid sir comforted the juniors and sent them to their respective rooms. Everybody gave their reactions, be it his team's supportive one, Anushka and Ritika's motherly affection, his sister's cheerful words or be it his father's disappointed one. The only person who neither said a thing nor gave a reaction was his bestfriend. The one who was the Gita to his Sita as Virat bhai would lovingly call them. The pocket dynamo to the Prince of the ICT. His mind clouded with fear, what if Ishan thinks I am a failure too?

Shaking away his thoughts, he went back to his room, and looked around to spot Ishan but he wasn't present ; first time in years. Sighing to himself, he put on a comfortable hoodie and slipped under the blankets. Just as sleep hit him, the door of his room banged. Getting up groggily, he was met with the sight of a disheveled Ishan holding two dishes and a a few foil pouches.

"Abbe khada kya hai, side de na" with that he made his way to the room passing through the taller one's raised arm as he stood dumbfounded.

"Yeh kya kar raha hai tu?"

"Bhukh lagi hai bhai, khana laga raha hoon"

"Mujhe nahi khana"

"Chup na"

"Kya hai, bola na nahi khana"

"Maine bola na khana hai toh khana hai, aankh dikhata hai haan?"

"Nevermind, aur tu yeh plate aur khana leke ghum kyun raha tha? Room service mangwa leta" He asked taking a bite of the butter chicken wrapped in a nicely baked naan.

"Woh na hotel ka khana bada phikha sa, angrez sa hai, isliye main laane gaya tha khana authentic Punjabi restaurant se" he answered, mouth full with the delicious food.

Shubman stared the boy in front of him. How could someone be so selfless and have such a personality that could light up the darkest of the hearts?

Last few days have been hard, although fans have been primarily supportive, the tension between the management, the negative media response, left an impact on the new comers. While Ishan was trolled for not contributing enough to the team, Shubman was called out for not being able to handle the stress that came with important matches. Things further deteriorated when people started blaming Ishan for Shubman's bad performance, painting him a 'bad influence' on the rising star.

Despite everything, the boy has been kind enough to never bring out the topic in their conversations to make Shubman feel at ease. Just when Shubman thought, Ishan has had enough of him, he barged in the room with his favourite food - to make him feel better. Oh, what would he have done without Ishan!

Wrapping up the used paper plates and soiled foil wraps, Ishan dropped them in the dustbin, as Shubman sprayed some room freshner in the air. The shortie had a terrible pet peeve. He couldn't stand the smell of food in the room minutes after he was done eating.

Calling it a day, the both hopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling in silence. After a few moment, he found himself drawn to the melody Ishan hummed 'Kuch toh log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna, chhodo bekaar ki baaton mein kahin beet na jaaye raina' . The first time in a while, he addressed the issues ; so subtly yet it put Shubman's mind and heart at ease. That was it about Ishan. The boy noticed everyone and everything and possessed some magical skills of reading The prince like the back of his hand.

.................................

Looking forward to your views and suggestions. Let me know what topics , issues or scenes maybe you would like to see in the due course of the book. Always feel free to suggest me, correct me if I go wrong somewhere or tell me about how you feel about the book exactly.

P.S. Sorry for bringing 19th Nov but it was needed for the plot.