A/N: Ppl can say what they want to about this century, that it came on a seemingly flat pitch, it came against a team of minnows, that he only statpads and won't perform when it matters. Yeah IDC, let em bark, I'm just here to enjoy this last phase of his career, his 76 in the first match may not have been a century like Jaiswal's or Rohit's but it was a calculated knock on a turning pitch. Regardless, it was a sign he gave us in the first test he'll give us the 76th in the second ig. LOL. Onto the story anywho.
After their positively dominant win against the Windies in the first test, the mood at camp was absolutely lively and with Yashasvi notching up his maiden century on debut and Ro scoring a century too, the celebrations were in full swing.
Virat was upset, no denying, he got dropped thrice, THRICE, and he couldn't capitalize on those 3 lives. It was easy for him to go on ground and dance along nonchalantly to the music in the stadium, it was easy for him to stand at slip with Shub and Ishan and just goof around. But it stung, helplessness crept in too, thinking what if that was it, his game against spin didn't get better, but he shook it off when he noticed Ro and Jammy bhai's worried glances thrown his way. He shook his head at them and proceeded to dunk Ro's face in the cake on the table as the others whooped at that.
After all the boys headed back to their rooms after the long day, Virat went up to the terrace. Leaning against the railing heavily with his head on the cool metal he let out the loud groan of frustration he had been holding back all day. That's when he heard it, sniffles, he turned around looking for the source of the sound and when his eyes finally located it, his eyes softened and his heart tugged looking at the shivering, sniffling, silently crying tall lanky kid sitting huddled near the wall.
Shubman was kicking himself for getting out the way he did. His confidence after the WTC was low as it is, of course Ro and Vi were always there supporting him, backing him, saying it'll all be fine and that he'll learn with experience, but the outside noise started to affect him even more, and the way he got out today the trolls were brutal, all asking for him to step aside and let Rutu play in place of him. His thoughts were all over the place as he sat huddled by the wall on the terrace, suddenly a hand brushed his hair and when he looked up and saw the concerned eyes of his biggest support system, he broke down as Virat held him, shushing him, urging him to calm down,
"Kiddo, you'll get sick. Calm down, it'll all be okay. It's okay it'll all be okay."
"No. Virat bhaiyaa they're going to drop me for the next match-"
"It's just one bad innings Shub, Ro and Jammy bhai are confident in your abilities okay? It was just a bad day."
"But Ro bhai and Yashasvi were able to score easily, why did I struggle?"
"Not just you kiddo, Jinksy and I had a tough time too, Jaddu too. The pitch was spinning from the first session but it got progressively worse as the innings progressed. It happens, you're young you still have lots of years to improve."
"Twitter pe sab bol rahe the ki, mujhe khelna hi nahi chahiye, Rutu ko khilana tha meri jagah."
"How many times have I told you...stay away from social media especially after you've had a bad match." Virat gently smacked the back of Shub's head as the kid buried his face in his neck and whispered a sorry.
"Shub, the public will say whatever they want to, they don't know the amount of time you spend in the nets with me, they don't know the work you put in at the gym, I do, Ro does, our team does. Trust the process okay? Abhi abhi 3 pe khelna shuru kiya international mei, the transition wouldn't have been easy. By the time the 1 down or 2 down batsmen come in to bat, the conditons would have changed completely. We have one more test left, you'll do well in that, if not that then SA series hei you'll prove yourself, I have no doubt."
"Thank you bhaiyaa. For always being there."
"You're my baby brother. I'll always be there, not going anywhere."
Shubman snuggled closer to the warmth his big brother gave and whispered into the silent night,
"You'll score your century in the next match. I just know it."
Shub felt Virat's body shake with laughter and looked at him with an adorable frown and squinted eyes,
"Kya bhaiyaa it's not funny, I'm serious, I have this feeling you'll score a century."
"Nobody has even scored a FIFTY on their 500th match baccha, I doubt I will, even though I love playing at Queen's Park Oval, I doubt I'll get a century."
"Okay, bet?"
Virat amusedly looked at the serious kid and nodded along humoring him,
"So if I win the bet, you have to do my celebration after you get your century, if I lose however, then....I won't fight with Ishan for a week and just assist you, Ishan and Jaddhu bhaiyaa in your pranks."
"Okay. Deal. Get ready to help me, Ishu and Jaddu then."
Virat continued laughing at Shubman as he complained to him about Ishan bullying him over having infinity average in test cricket and people trolling him for saying, "mera Tshirt hataake paseena chatega". Unbeknownst to Shub, Virat felt so much better just listening to the confidence in Shubman's voice when he made that bet.
***
Windies had won the toss and chosen to bowl first on a seemingly flat track, Yashasvi and Rohit notched up another century stand and then Yashasvi had to depart after a fine 50,Shub nervously walked in and Virat had patted his back and sent him down, but unfortunately, he departed for 10, Virat sighed at that and walked to join Ro in the middle,
"Been a while since we had a century stand of our own, aaj banalenge?"
"Don't get out like your prodigy and we'll get it." Ro joked back and they took their ends.
Unfortunately 2 overs later even Rohit got out after a well made 80 and Virat was still yet to open his account, with Jinks at the other end they talked about getting acclimated to the conditions and finally after 20 deliveries Virat opened his account with a boundary and then there was no stopping him, he was in perfect control of his cover drives, Jinks fell for a score of 8 and he was joined by Jaddu, both of them taking their time but the runs kept flowing. Virat had found a fanboy in the form of Joshua de Silva, the Windies' keeper who reminded him a lot of Marnus, he kept chirping,
"My mom told me she's coming to watch Virat Kohli bat "
and the runs countdown he had going when Virat was nearing his 50,
"9 runs more, yeah come on Virat"
"7 more."
And when Vi did get to his second fifty of the series, Joshua took it upon himself to motivate Virat to go for the big score,
"Come on Virat get to your hundred."
"You're obsessed with my milestones?"
"I know I am, I want you to get your 100."
Virat laughed at that, Jaddu met him in the middle and teased,
"You got another fan. Shubman won't like this at all. Miyaan too."
"Jaa batting kar." Jaddu laughed at that annoyed tone.
Virat had ended the day with 87*and an injured thumb( courtesy of a dive he put in after stealing another double) and he and Jaddu walked back pretty pleased with themselves, they had saved the team from a collapse when wickets fell rapidly after Jaiswal's departure.
Shub immediately, pushing Ro aside fussed over the finger scolding him quietly for being a reckless idiot. Ro scoffed at the soft expression Virat sported, had it been anyone else fussing over the finger, Virat would have brushed them all aside and would have called them "emotional fools." Jinks snorted at the contrasting expressions on both his best friends' faces and intervened pulling Shub away assuring him Virat was fine and just needed to go take a shower and get some food in him.
Ro pulled Virat into a headlock and asked,
"What kind of black magic have you done on those kids, tabse Virat bhaiyaa Virat bhaiyaa kar rahe the."
"Shub ka tho patha hei, Miyaan bhi, aur kon hei?" Virat asked genuinely confused,
Jinks and Ash who joined them both smacked their foreheads at that and questioned him about Joshua the wicket keeper, laughing along as Jaddu and Virat recounted everything that was said.
The next day before Virat went down with Jaddu, Shub gave a good luck hug to Virat whispering, "The bet. Don't forget it." Shaking his head, Virat walked down.
Surprising himself he was in perfect touch, when he was on 97, he looked up at the team balcony and found Yashasvi and Shubman both sitting there with wide grins expectantly waiting for him to get to his triple figure, and with a shake of his head, took his stance taking a deep breath, instinctively, he saw the ball going towards the 5th off stump but with perfect balance and control maneuvered it over deep square point for a boundary.
His first oversea hundred in tests after 5 long years, his 15th away test century, but he wasn't the old him anymore who'd have aggressively celebrated this, so with a calm, shy smile waved his bat around and when he caught sight of his baby brother grinning so wide, he looked at him and did the bow and watched Shub laugh with Yashasvi at that semi accurate celebration.
Shubman had been sitting on the edge of his seat from the minute Virat entered into the 90s, and when he was on 97, he was almost standing up, when Virat got to his century, he jumped up with a shout, Yashasvi by his side he felt so proud, the bet slipped his mind completely the minute his eyes fell on the smile on his big brother's face, and when Vi caught his eyes and bowed, Shub laughed and heard Yashasvi say,
"Fans are going to be talking about you and Virat bhaiyaa's bromance again."
"We're proud of it."
Was Shub's cheeky response which had even the coaches laughing, cause they knew Ishan, Virat and Shubman's bakchodi was what keeping the entertainment alive, other than Ro of course giving everyone meme materials just being himself.
When Virat got run out and he walked up the stairs to the dressing room, he was immediately engulfed into the hug by Shub who had yet again pushed Ro aside and this time Ro didn't bother hiding his annoyance,
"Yaar Shubman, wo mera best friend hei!"
To irk Ro even more with mischievous grins they tightened the hug as Jinks and Ro tried prying them apart as Ash commented drily,
"No wonder people think there's something going on between the both of you."
Snorting at that Virat pulled away, not before ruffling the kid's hair and received hugs from everyone, and went and sat exhaustedly on the bench as Shub joined him,
"You did it wrong you know?"
"Eh?"
"The bow. The helmet comes front when bending and the bat goes behind your back, you did it the other way round."
"Okay baba, it's your celebration I just borrowed it one time and it'll be the last time I do that."
"IT'S ICONIC!"
"It's lame."
Ro looked back into the dressing room and noticed how Virat had the same look Mahi bhai had around him and Vi back in the day and told the same to Jinks and Ash who couldn't help but agree. They knew more than anyone, one of the main reasons Virat hadn't completely lost his mind these last few months amidst all the outside noise about him was Shubman's constant presence. And they didn't mind it a bit.
A/N: So sorry bout these delayed updates, like I said, I've been busy these past few weeks. But on to the main thing. He scored this 76th century in a milestone match, which is so rare for him, but someone else getting POTM on his milestone match remained unchanged, Siraj deserves this.
Aakash Chopra recently said, Virat Kohli isn't in fab 4 anymore right? Man thinks he's the all knowing kirkut expert when infact, Virat, Root, Kanos and Smudge can score ducks the rest of their career and they'll forever be the fab 4. There was a time Root was so inconsistent while the other 3, sorry, Virat was smashing centuries for fun at the time, nobody questioned Root's place in the fab 4. Point is, they're not called the fab 4 because of their current forms, it's because of how they each dominated in tests back in '16-'17. I don't think these experts realize just how taxing it'll be on a player when they come across such statements, I mean he's proved himself, but SA he needs to have a 2018 worthy series and we can openly breathe and say, he's back for good.
Moving on, I got these cute as hell pictures from the match
He looked so flustered here 😭😭 and Joshua saying, "I wasn't lying. I told you. I wasn't lying" that was adorable.
And good god Ro
Virat probably woke Rohit up from a nap and hence the confusion on Rohit's face.
Before I sign off one last thing, tears from the English is what's keeping me going these days. Australia have truly said Bazball? Yoink. In the first two tests. Marnus tried his best in the third but we retain the Ashes so we move.