Vira's POV
"Jaldi, jaldi! Match shuru ho rahi hai!"
"Yaar, what's the rush? Abhi das (10) minute baki hai."
"Haan, lekin Ishan aa raha hai. Mujhe usko dekhna hai!"
MI vs GT. The most anticipated match of the current IPL season, one fans had been waiting over a week for. The IPL was every Indian fan's remedy for the heartbreak from the World Cup. One where we could watch Indian players lift the cup.
Australia had snatched it from us and had left the hearts of the whole country aching for an ICC trophy. I still remember that day.
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Flashback
Shubman Gill- 4(7)
Rohit Sharma- 47(31)
Shreyas Iyer- 4(3)
Virat Kohli- 54(63)
Ravindra Jadeja- 9(7)
KL Rahul- 66(107)
Suryakumar Yadav- 18(28)
Mohammed Shami- 6(10)
Jasprit Bumrah- 1(3)
Kuldeep Yadav- 10(18)
Mohammed Siraj- 9(8)
Final score- 240
To any other person, seeing these numbers would have meant nothing. But to an Indian fan, these numbers added another heartbreak to their lives. The third one in 12 years.
A team that had won 10 of 10 matches, battling the odds relentlessly, fighting for hours at a time on the field, baking in the fierce Indian afternoon sun. The team everyone believed could win, had it in them to lift the World Cup for their country for the third time.
But after a nail-biting first innings, all the pressure had been bestowed on the bowlers. World-class bowlers, with top economies, perfect wicket-taking options for the captain. They'd been the ones to spice up India's fielding innings throughout the tournament.
Years ago, one would love to watch Indian batting. The 2023 ODI World Cup brought about a whole new perspective on the bowling aspect of the game. For me, it became the most exciting part of the match.
The adrenaline rush felt by every Indian fan when the bails glowed red, a stark contrast to the green and yellow pitch, making the crowd erupt into applause and cheer for the bowler.
The expectant nature of every LBW, everyone hoping for the batsman to walk off after seeing the words OUT displayed in big red letters on the screen. The hope that the ball had edged the bat and flown into the keeper's gloves.
But, alas. There had been no such adrenaline rushes, nor even a chance for an LBW or caught behind. And so, the pressure of such a big match brought the ceiling crashing down, and the fiery hope of winning the World Cup died out a little more with each boundary they hit.
Eventually, the pitch was flooded with yellow, and the Australian team ran onto the field after winning the World Cup for the sixth time. The eyes of every Indian were filled with tears, watching KL Rahul sink to the ground in despair, tears rolling down Rohit and Siraj's cheeks, and the pained smile of Bumrah as he comforted a shaking Siraj.
The defeat hurt so much, but seeing tears in the players' eyes hurt even more. This was a team who'd been smiling, joking around, enjoying themselves the whole tournament. A team that resembled not only best friends but brothers, family.
That match had hit home. The T20 series we won against Australia just a few days afterwards came more as a numbing agent than sweet revenge. The pain of that World Cup wasn't going to leave easily.
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The captains walked onto the pitch for the toss. In the grand scheme of things, I was a diehard RCB fan. I was only here for Ishan Kishan. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't ever find me watching an MI match.
My friend, Priya, had somehow managed to get herself two tickets and ended up deciding that taking me with her would be more beneficial than taking her sister. (Again, because I was only here for Ishan).
This match, being held at Wankhede Stadium, made MI the home team and Hardik Pandya, the home captain. Hardik tossed the coin in the air, a loud "Ooh" emerging from the crowd.
"Dusra team ka captain kon hai?", I asked.
"Yaar, uska naam mein bhool gayi. Ruk." Priya thought for a couple of seconds, before admitting defeat, unlocking her phone and Googling the answer. "Ohh, yeah, Shubman Gill!"
"Oh, Shubman Gill. Pehli baar usko captaincy diya hai na, GT ne?"
"Mhm, aisa toh lagta hai. But yaar, voh kitna cute hai na?"
I rolled my eyes at the dreamy look on Priya's face.
"Cute? Aur voh? Tu pagal hai?" I mocked.
"Nahi, Vira, voh saach mein bohot cute hai!" She said defensively.
"Tu chup bet aur match dekho. Shubman keliye ayi ho kya?" I snapped.
"Tune toh Ishan ke liya ayi ho, aur mujhe ke rahi ho?"
Well, that shut me up.
"Chup!" I said, then under my breath, "Pagal."
"I heard that."
"Good."
We'd been so involved in our conversation that we'd forgotten to pay attention to the toss. I gestured to Priya, asking whether she'd heard who'd won the toss, but she shook her head.
In a desperate attempt to avoid human interaction, I rummaged around for my phone to find out who'd won the toss. GT had won the toss and they'd chosen to field first.
A couple minutes later, the GT team came out and began a quick warmup while waiting for Rohit and Ishan to walk on. On my tiptoes, I yearned for a peek at his beautiful face. But thankfully, I think the cameraman got the memo, and shifted the camera to focus on Ishan, who was now entering the field.
I took a moment to admire him before the cameraman changed his focus again to some shots of the crowd. A sea of blue and navy filled the stands, everyone holding up huge banners with funny slogans and cute nicknames for the players.
Ishan had, by now, reached the actual pitch and was at the non-striker's end, with Rohit Sharma on strike and ready to go. Although I wasn't a big MI fan, Ishan was there, so I had to cheer.
Anticipation in the crowd built up quickly, as the first bowler, Rashid Khan started his run-up. He took no time in reaching the crease and delivering the ball at great speed.
The ball bounced, Rohit swung....
And missed. Koi baat nai. Fir se try karo, Rohit bhai.
An ooh could be heard from the crowd, as the keeper caught it swiftly. Rashid's next few balls also ended up being dot balls. However, on the fourth ball of the over, it seemed like Rohit Sharma had had enough, and was on the attack.
A big swing from Rohit, and the bat contacted with the ball, making a beautiful sound, flying way up into the stands, and the umpire held up his hands, signalling a six.
The cameraman zoomed in on Rohit's face and he was smiling slightly, but then quickly zoomed out again, to show the bowler's run-up. This ball was a short ball, which rose sharply. If it had been another player, they would have struggled.
But this was Rohit. He knew this like the back of his hand. An elegant pull shot did the trick, as the ball bounced towards the boundary. Unfortunately, it didn't go for four, because there was a fielder, so the batsman took only a single.
Now, finally, Ishan was on strike. Fists clenched, eyes fixated, I prayed he didn't get out for a duck, but rather, went on to play the whole match.
Rashid Khan came in for another attack, and Ishan smashed it up in the air. The ball's trajectory seemed to be aimed... towards me. My eyes widened in excitement and got my hands out, ready to catch the ball.
The white ball, which was still relatively shiny, landed straight in my hands, and I started jumping up and down in happiness. Priya took a quick picture of me with the ball, and the cameraman decided to follow the ball and zoom in on my face.
Gosh, I look so awful in that camera shot.
Desperate to get the camera's attention off myself, I chucked the ball back into the field, and it was caught by a fielder, and the game restarted, back to its original pace.
The next few overs went well, with the openers hitting big sixes and fours. Almost every ball was a boundary, and the crowd which mainly comprised of MI fans, was ecstatic to watch their team's excellent performance.
However, Mohammed Shami had now been called into the attack, and the crowd had gone silent, knowing the damage he could cause.
With a quick run-up, Shami bowled a magnificent yorker to Rohit Sharma, which he edged, and it was caught by slip. The finger went up, signalling OUT.
Wickets were now falling in quick succession, and Ishan was left to bat with SKY. The pair smashed some beautiful shots, but the game quickly came to a close, as the end of the 20 overs was nearing.
MI ended up with a grand total of 212.
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A/N
And that's it for chapter one, guys!
How'd you find it? This isn't going to be factually correct because I wrote this before the 2024 IPL, but the World Cup part is definitely true. How are you guys coping with that heartbreak? I still can't get it out of my head, and it's been AGESSSS.
I know I haven't properly introduced Shubman yet, but don't worry, he's coming ;)
And also, I can't say my Hindi is flawless, bc it's not my first language, but I know bits- its kinda broken Hindi, but we don't talk about that 😅
So if you see any mistakes in my Hindi, don't hesitate to comment and correct me :))
Hope you're liking the story so far, and please do vote, it means a lot :DD