The Lasting Serenade

ONE

It's all fun and games until you miss the eighteen-hour flight you were supposed to be on with your teammates, it's frustrating and annoying, to say the least. It would be an understatement to say that the acclaimed 'prince of cricket', Shubman Gill was angry.

He was confused and lost when he woke up to his phone constantly going off, picking up the call he was met with Virat Kohli's screeching loud voice as he demanded Shubman and his roommate, Abhishek Sharma's whereabouts.

It took Shubman a split second to sit up straight, wide-eyed and sweaty, to realise that he had slept in, the confusion soon masked into rage and he was beyond furious at his best friend & teammate, Abhishek for making them miss their flight.

The Indian Cricket Team were leaving for their next tournament in the United Kingdom for one month.

Rohit Sharma and the team manager had made sure to book the flight tickets two weeks before the commencement ceremony of the India Tour of England, but it was fate or perhaps, Shubman and Abhishek's sheer bad luck that made both of them miss the said flight leaving their teammates concerned and ballistic at their irresponsible conduct.

"Gadhe ki aulaad, uth jaldi bewakoof nikamma aadmi hamari flight miss hogayi, Virat bhai ne maardena hai humdono ko, uth saale" Abhishek felt a hard pillow thrown at his head as he heard Shubman shouting at him while trying to jerk him out of his deep and peaceful sleep.

"Kya hua bhai subah subah chilla kyun raha hai yaar, waise hi sar dard se phatta jaa raha hai kal raat shayad kuch zyada hi pee li maine," Abhishek yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes not realising the gravity of the situation as he completely ignored Shubman's shouts, his head was spinning, the inevitable aftermath of partying and excessive drinking.

Shubman looked at him incredulously, shocked at his friend's audacity and antics.

He picked another pillow that was thrown on the floor and aimed it at Abhishek's head, making Abhishek snap out of his trance and finally ease into his senses.

That's when he noticed the popping vein on Shubman's forehead which was a sign of his anger, almost everyone including Abhishek himself feared Shubman's temperament.

"Tu puri tarah akal se paidal hai kya? HAMARI FLIGHT MISS HOGAYI HAI ABHISHEK! Time dekh zara 12 baj raha hai, 2 ghante late hain humdono, Virat bhai ne phone karke gaaliyan hi gaaliyan dassi hai abhi aur tujhe apne sar dard ki padi hai? Tere wajah se mujhe sar dard hone laga hai, ab pata nahi kya karenge hum flight chali gayi... yeh sab tere wajah se ho raha hai saale, mann toh kar raha hai bat utha ke bas tujhe maroon... nalayak insaan," Shubman yelled

Shubman picked up his bat kept on the side then threw it away as he took a seat on the edge of the hotel bed keeping his head in his hands as he racked his brain thinking of their next move, he was worried about not reaching the UK on time and possibly missing the inaugural ceremony.

The India Tour of England was a very crucial and important series for Shubman, this was his chance at redemption for his last season of the IPL where he could not perform as well as he was expected to do so.

The pressure of being the youngest captain of his team Gujarat Titans had eaten him alive evidently hindering his game and form, he was scared and felt alone with his captaincy debut, no one knew just how desperately he wanted this tournament to go well, for him & his career's sake.

Abhishek gulped and slowly got off the bed making sure not to knock anything off to not make Shubman any angrier than he already was, he dashed towards the washroom to take a quick shower after packing his last-minute leftover belongings.

Fifteen minutes later, both Shubman & Abhishek were ready and reached the lobby as they waited for the hotel taxi to take them to the airport.

Shubman's sister, Shahneel's friend worked at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai who managed to book a last-minute ticket on a different aircraft for both of them which leaves in the next 3 hours... problem solved, right? Hmm, not really.