DESTINY'S FAVOURITE CHILDREN

41. Let the Wounds Heal

On the match day, the whole Deshmukh family got ready to watch Virat from the stadium. Rishabh was super excited. Living in New York didn't provide him any opportunity to watch live international cricket. Now in Mumbai, he could watch it to his hearts content. A year ago, it was his mere manifestation to cheer for Virat from the ground. Now he knew, menifestations do get true, if your heart is in right place.

The whole family cheered for Virat's batting from the stands. Rishabh had Indian tricolour in one hand and Virat's poster in another. Virat grinned looking at him, he was the only one in VIP stands who was jumping this excitedly. Even during the first innings, when Virat was fielding near their stand, Rishabh waved at him aggressively, "Bhaiii. Look here, yahaan" Rishabh had been shouting. MS had to shut him up and Virat was grateful for the intervention. That could distract him from fielding.

Once Virat completed his hundred, his first in his home ground, he turned towards the stand his family was sitting in and raised the bat. He could see the gleaming faces of everyone. Rishabh was almost jumping, Sakshi bhabhi was cheering loudly, Mahi bhai was clapping with a proud smile on his face and behind all of them he could see Meera, the look on the face looked so endearing, even from far, that Virat found himself almost tearing up.

"My whole family is here. This one is very special for me. My first time playing here and this couldn't get any better. My younger brother especially, he was so excited, this one is for you Rishu"
Virat had ecstatically declared in the post match presentation where he was given the Man of the Match award.

Virat hadn't realised the gravity of what he had spoken until he found a crowd of reporters, mostly paparazzi hounding his family on their way back home from the stadium. Rishabh and Meera were probably captured on cameras and now everyone was curious, everyone wanted drama. News pieces on the family of a reputed businessman and a star cricketer meant gold for the media houses!

"Sir you talked about your younger brother. The world has never known him, what's his name? " A reporter in his late 20s or early 30s asked, pointing his mic towards Virat.

Virat continued to talk without giving any answer. MS wrapped his arm protectively around Rishabh. They were glad Sakshi and Meera had reached to their cars already.

"Are you 3 brothers in all? Is there any reason why the identity of your youngest brother has been kept secret?"

"And why are you talking about him only now? Any particular reason? "

"Is he your adopted brother? " The questions didn't stop coming. Everyone wanted some bits and they were in a race. Some of them didn't even hesitate to push the mics to their mouths. The bodyguards had a job to do.

MS lost his temper when one guy pushed his mic to Rishabh's mouth asking "What's your name Sir? How are you related to Mr MS Deshmukh and Virat? "

MS immediately pushed the mic away from Rishabh, "That's none of your business. He is our brother and that's all you get to know. Now get out of the way if you don't want problems for yourselves" , MS spoke. He wasn't loud but his voice didn't betray the anger he was feeling. The road was cleared immediately. They had guessed they were not getting any masala and it was best to not mess with the business shark. Their bosses will definitely not be happy if something goes wrong.

Everyone retired to sleep as soon as they reached home. They had already been tired, especially Virat who had played an eight hour match.

The next day took them to even more surprises. Rishabh's pictures from the match were all over media. Suddenly he was the topic of discussion among the crowd instead of the hundred Virat scored or the match India won. Meera had been cautious enough to not come in front of cameras but even she had been captured once, the moment Virat scored the century.