ICT Imagines 2✅

Together Or Nothing

And Rohit hated it. Hated how scared and cowardly he felt.

Virat's face displayed exhaustion but he wasn't complaining. He was tackling it like he always did, flawlessly.

But Rohit was wallowing in self pity, if only he had some more runs-

Stop it.

He needed to move on but a look at his cricket kit and the fleeting memory of that match replayed in his head all over again.

Everytime he met a fan and they exclaimed how proud they are, the guilt washed over all over again.

Seeing Rohit nervously twitch in his place send alert signals in Virat's head.

"let's play a game." Virat announced hastily.

Rohit's attention shifted back to him before he frowned slightly, "what?"

"we are playing a game." he rather declared this time.

"but--"

"tell me 5 big moments of your life."

Rohit's movements halted for a second. Honestly he had so many things in his life to be grateful for that he couldn't possibly summarise it in 5 bullet points.

"umm.......when Sammy was born." he smiled slightly, "when Ritika and I got married. When I met you and the rest of the team. Every moment with my parents and Vishal and-"

Virat shifted to the edge of his seat.

Rohit cleared his throat yet again, "and when I started playing for India."

Virat sat back with a pleased smile.

"if you were not a cricketer what would you be doing?"

Rohit held his breath for a second this time, he hadn't honestly ever thought of that question. What would he be doing? His senses tinkled with consternation.

Cricket has consumed his mind and soul for as long as he can remember.

Even in school he was clear with the idea of wanting to be a cricketer. Kids and teachers had laughed at his big aims but Rohit was never bothered about failure then why was he scared now?

Cricket was everything for him. The legacies that he had heard growing up and the legacy he wanted to create of his own.

"I think you would have made an excellent hindi teacher." Virat quipped in.

Rohit rolled his eyes at the obvious gib while Virat grinned cheekily at him.

The realisation flashed like a thunderstorm at him. All those sensible brain cells which had went into hibernation after the world cup immediately started acting up.

Cricket was everything to him and he didn't hate the sport.
He hated the tribulations that came after the wc.

Not like he hasn't seen them before but this was probably his last shot for it and he felt as if his life has ended.

How stupid of him to think of the appreciation from the fans, his family and the team as the  burden of expectations he failed to achieve.

How stupid of him to feel trammelled and intimidated of something he loved so dearly.

The sun will rise again.

It will. The knife pulled away and Rohit finally felt like he could breathe again.

Red was also the color of love, the love he had for cricket and no love came easy. It made him suffer and cry but at the end of the day, it was all worth it.