ICT ONE-SHOTS (FRIENDSHIP)

The transition from Mahiya to Mahi bhai (MahiRo)

Only because you're my Ro, Siri...

Set in 2007...

Mahendra Singh Dhoni took decisions silently. He knew his strategies were good. Even before making his debut last year, he used to take decisions mentally as he watched India play. Sometimes Dada's decisions matched with his. Sometimes they didn't. But MS knew internally he was more often right than wrong.

Now he was beginning to realize that a strategist is not necessarily a good captain. Especially when you're the captain of a team in tatters, ruined by an Australian coach, left in shambles by a foreigner destroying everything Dada had built, brick by brick, in the last decade.

MS always felt he had been given  a privilege that his Dada had been stripped off. Dada had been the glue holding the team together. Every single person in the team, all the seniors, thought the world of Dada. And was he blaming them? Of course not. He thought the world of Dada, too.

No one in the team thought he was eligible to be captain; at least that was MS thought. How could they, anyway? Some of them had been in the team for years...and he was so new. That, mingled with their loyalty towards Dada meant that MS had absolutely no desire to captain this team.

He could take decisions, and take them well.

So he became the silent strategist.

He did not feel the need to be a person you could confide in anytime, a warm guardian figure like Dada, because it was simply no good trying impossible things.

Dada was Dada. He was just...Dada's Mahiya.

A shadow. A second choice. An imposition.

------------------------

On the eve of India leaving for the T20 World Cup 2007, Mahi got a call from Dada. It wasn't unexpected, because Dada had been calling him a lot since the change in captaincy came about.

"So Mahiya," began Dada cheerfully. "Your first international tournament as captain!"

He was so ridiculously ungrudging that Mahi wanted to cut the call.

"Yes, I guess," he mumbled.

"Make sure you enjoy every bit of it, ok? Make sure it stays with you as one of the best memories of your life. Don't worry too much about the result, just enjoy yourself."

"Dada, we're going for a World Cup!"

"What did I always tell you?"

Mahi grunted.

"Maihya, what did I always tell you?" Dada's tone was quite stern now, so Mahi felt compelled to say, albeit a little sulkily, "Treat the World Cup matches just like any other cricket match."

"Good," said Dada. "You just remember that."

"I will..." said Mahi. "..try," he added.

Dada sighed.

"And there was another thing I wanted to tell you," he said suddenly.  "You know there's a kid making his debut in this tournament?"

Mahi felt annoyed. Of course he knew the details of the team.

"Yeah, Rohit Sharma. And Dada, of course I know the details of the team!"

"I'm sure you do," said Dada, sounding suspiciously sarcastic to Mahi. "Well, just take care that he fits into the team smoothly."

"How can I take care about whether someone fits in or not?"

"You're the captain, Mahi," said Dada, sighing again.