HIT WICKET MY HEART **COMPLETE**

CHAPTER 1 - The Basic PITCH of My Life

Chapter 1 - The Basic Pitch of My Life

Arnav's POV

Cape Town- South Africa - 8.00PM

"Hey Arnav,great day in the nets today, im sure it will be a good game tomorrow..", spoke Ravi, my team-mate, as we walked towards our hotel rooms.

Ravi was an ace bowler of our team.His pace and bowling length was something that intrigued me greatly,because his deliveries always turned out to be wicket-taking ones in the big games, and also because I loved to practice my shots with him in the nets,his game made me improve and innovate my shot-taking techniques. I gave him a small smile and nodded - " yes it should be..im looking forward to it..it'll be a large turn out surely, with the fans equally divided on both the sides..."

Ravi grinned - " ofcourse ya, South Africa loves cricket as much as we do, and although I love a good old test match and the one days, you gotta admit, with t20, the game has sort of evolved and is becoming more interesting, its like the new age short and sweet cricket entertainment for the generation that loves the game and prefer to enjoy it with a shorter overs and the thrills and the risks off it..i quite enjoy it myself, and I know you do so too, your shot selections and temperament completely differ in the t20 match..."

I smiled back at him, for he was right about that.The t20 format was something I exclusively enjoyed a lot, it let me play more aggressively,exploring new shots from the edge of my bat, and I said - " and you are right about that...and its been a long tour though, nothing better than to finish it off with a t20 series win too..."

Ravi grinned - " you bet, nothing better than that..surely...",and he paused as he asked, as I reached my room - "I will see you in an hour for dinner with the team then?"

I shrugged - " not really, im thinking of giving it a miss...I just want to relax a little by myself, ill just order in.."

Ravi - " really? Ok, I wont push you, its been hectic, but we will miss our all rounder favourite vice-captain...but you should relax, we need you to fire tomorrow..."

I grinned - " thanks, and im going to use just that excuse to get myself some me time, I will message Cap.."

Ravi nodded - " great then, I will see you tomorrow..."

I nodded, as I patted his shoulder and I spoke - " take that little muscle pull seriously though once we are back home.."

Ravi smiled - " I will...", and he made his way to his room and I walked into mine.

I kept my kit aside on the sofa, and lied down on the huge L-shaped sofa in my room.

God, I was exhausted, it had been a long and much needed practice day in the nets and all I was looking forward was to some alone time now, just too unwind at my own pace.

Cricket was such an important part of my life that I could almost say that Cricket was Life, itself. Ever since I was young, my father had encouraged me to explore my passion and interest in the game and for that I could never thank him or my family enough. I wouldn't have been able to get through to where I am today without their constant support and guidance.

I was going to turn 28 ,five days from today , which was also the day our third and last t20 match was scheduled for, and we were going to leave for India, the next day, and I was kind off looking forward to it too, it had been a long tour. I had been playing for India officially since the age of 19( started my career as a professional international cricketer in the Under 19 Team and then went onto get selected in the Mens Squad immediately after) and have been playing as the Opening Batsmen for India ever since for years now, and i have also been the vice- captain of the team for four years now and I quite liked things this way as they allowed me to concentrate on my game.