ICT ONESHOTS

Virushka + Rah: You're Not Alone

YOU'RE NOT ALONE
VIRUSHKA + RAH

Kl Rahul's POV:

Athiya and I were going to Virat's house for dinner. We walked in and were greeted with Vami's cute babbles.

Every time she says rah chu I melt.

"Good to see you both, Vamika has been a power packet ever since Virat told her rah chu is coming over." Anushka greeted

"It's good to see you guys, this has been long overdue." I said as I pulled Anushka in a side hug

The dinner carried on when Virat said, "Rahuliya, you've come a long way, from third wheeling my dates to finding you own."

"Don't call me that -" my sentence was cut off by thiya

"WHATTTT he third wheeled your dates, I had no idea. How did that happen."

"Yeah nush, how did I let this monkey interrupt our romance?" Virat said

"Don't listen to him, those dates are some of my favourite times." Anushka chimed in

"So Athiya it all started in Melbourne 2014-15, my test debut."

Third person POV

Flashback to 2014 December

It was a brisk December morning in Melbourne, the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon, casting a golden glow across the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). In the heart of the Indian team's dressing room, KL Rahul sat quietly, his nerves palpable as he prepared for his much-anticipated test debut.

As the bustling energy of the stadium filtered through the walls, Rahul couldn't shake the fluttering feeling in his stomach. He had dreamt of this moment since he was a child, wielding a cricket bat in the streets of Mangalore. Now, on the cusp of realizing his lifelong ambition, the weight of the occasion bore down on him like a heavy burden.

His teammates and captain - M.S. Dhoni sensed his apprehension and offered words of encouragement, but Rahul remained lost in his own thoughts. He paced back and forth, his mind racing with a whirlwind of doubts and uncertainties. What if he failed to perform? What if he let down his team and his country on this grand stage?

However, his debut didn't go as planned, his worst fears were realised as he ended up getting dismissed for three and one in the first and second innings respectively.

More than the scores, it was the manner of his dismissals that raised questions. He got out to loose shots in both innings, playing an expansive sweep and top-edging it in the first, and miscuing a pull in the second.

In the deafening silence that followed, Rahul felt as though he were drowning in a sea of his own failures. Doubts swirled in his mind like a maelstrom, tearing at the frayed edges of his confidence. As he trudged back to the pavilion, the weight of his disappointment threatened to crush him. Each step felt like a descent into darkness, his mind consumed by a relentless barrage of self-recrimination. He felt like a fraud, a pretender masquerading as a cricketer on the grandest stage of them all.

Anushka who was there for a couple matches noticed how broken Rahul was. How the failure to live up to expectations and the brutal trolling had taken a toll over the young debutant. She felt like she needed to protect him like a younger bother, tell him that's he is not alone in his failure and this setback doesn't define him.