“Adiyogi Shankar Tripathi! I reckon your parents must really hate you. Did they always want a girl and you just dropped as a surprise? I mean there can be different levels of not being liked. It looks like you topped them all,” said Gopi one evening. They had taken a seat for their usual impractical philosophical discussion. A wooden chair, a fine terrace and a beautiful spring evening do make a rare combination.
Adi was staring at the maroon sky with the setting sun and was unusually silent. He thought for a moment if Gopi was telling the truth. His mother did often yell, “Why Lord, why? Why couldn’t you just let me have a daughter instead of this useless son?” But then another realistic thought struck his mind. That Gopi was as stupid as one can be, and that his mother was just another crazy woman who liked to yell every first thought that visited her mind.
He turned to Gopi and replied with a smirk, “you do realize, ‘Gopal Krishna Thakur’ is not a fancy name either, right? Imagine reading this in a newspaper: ‘Adi, the first cricketer ever, to hit six sixes and take hat-trick wickets in the same match.’ Now replace ‘Adi’ with ‘Gopi’. Does that sound right? No man, ‘Gopi’ can never do that. It’s just not possible.”
“You and your stupid fantasy of cricket never seem to get over. Just a loser you are. Admit it or grow up. I am done for today,” Gopi fumed and left for his home.
Adi lingered longer to his fantasies. As the warm breeze blew across his face, he was deeply immersed in the ocean of his thoughts. Those were the silly thoughts of him changing the world through cricket. He had these superhuman ideas of doing miracles in the world, which involved him being a Robin Hood cricketer. His ideas were backed by astrological charts and humorous predictions too. Supposedly, he was meant to have infinite blessings of Lord Shiva. That was something to do with him being born on the lord’s day of Shivratri. The pundits had declared that he would be the solution to the world’s greatest problems. And he grew up in that manner, thinking he was going to save the treacherous world. The saving required some miracles, and he hadn’t come across any in thirty years of his life. Between his passion for cricket and the need to make a living, he was stuck as a science teacher in a higher secondary school. Not that he wasn’t proud of his job, it wasn’t fulfilling his imagination of changing the world. That and constantly being mocked as a loser by his family and friends. So, he needed to focus more on cricket and be better than billions to achieve what he wanted. The only problem was, he wasn’t motivated enough. He only liked the idea of living in a perfect world. He couldn’t make his lazy bum work enough to fulfil his dreams.
After fulfilling his passion in his imagination, Adi took a deep breath of satisfaction. He got up from the chair to stretch his body. Oh, yes, he was built athletic—a tall handsome figure with a rare lean physique. He was in the prime of his youth alright. And had he put an effort to live a mediocre life, he would have been the dream of many young ladies. However, a mediocre self-centred life was never in his mind. His thoughts were blurred with eccentric ideas of changing the world. And this idiosyncrasy had got him nothing but a tag of a crazy loser.
As he bent backwards, the joints of his back crackled and he grunted pushing the air out of his lungs. To soothe his mind further, he started strolling around the terrace. It helped him to get rid of the negative thoughts. And when he had become quite positive, he took his cellphone out to call Meera.
“Reckon you can marry a cricketer?” he asked, as Meera picked up the phone, almost believing his foolish thought.
“Only if Mr Cricketer does not forget to give me his first autograph,” she replied in a cheerful tone.
“I think he would be able to manage that for a splendid lady like you. But, on a serious note, why do you even encourage me in such illogical fantasies?”
That was a very valid question, and everybody in the town was wondering the same. No one understood why she kept encouraging him, and more importantly, no one could comprehend why she was stuck with a non-achiever like him. But the fact never bothered her because she knew those were just a bunch of jealous people trying to make an opinion. And the world was so full of opinions. The opinions followed by advice and advice followed by criticism—that was what the society was about.
Nonetheless, she had her reasons to love him. She liked his honesty, authenticity and his lively nature. She also adored his no-pretentious and never giving up attitude. And that was all that mattered to her for she was adamant and stubborn to be with him in all ups and downs of this mortal life. So, she answered him like she would every other time, “your fantasies may not seem real, but your faith is stronger than a thousand mountains. You have the lord’s blessing to change the world and change the world you will. After all, imagination is just a blueprint of reality.”
“I have heard that before, but your lord seems to have turned a blind eye to me. Not sure if he is listening to my prayers anymore,” Adi said looking at the sky beyond, saying more to God than to Meera.
“Lord Shiva is listening very well, and he said to me you should be little less lazy and have little more patience,” joked Meera laughingly.
“Is that right? So now Shiva speaks to you directly. What are you, a Hindu oracle?”
“You never know—”
“If that’s what you are, why don’t you ask him to grant me super-powers to hit sixes and take wickets whenever I want in a match?”
“Quite impressive and impatient plan, I must say. I will put in a word for you next month on the festival of Shivaratri. Who knows, you might get your wish this birthday?”
“You never fail to amaze me, whether it be my fantasy or reality. I guess it’s enough daydreaming for one day. Talk to you later.”
Adi woke up in the middle of the night and shouted, “get away from my thoughts.” He took several deep breaths and shouted that again. He had the same nightmare tonight that he had been having for a very long time. In his recurrent dream, he would see himself into a distant future where all his convictions had been nothing but a lie. He would see himself turned into a joke with no one left to support him—not even Meera. Of all people, not even Meera. He had not told anyone about this dream, and it had been killing him. He sat covered in sweats in the darkroom for another half an hour. Like every other time, he then went out to his balcony to gaze into the stars. As if the stars would have the answers to his questions. No one had the answer to what would happen if he failed and that’s what he feared the most. He couldn’t remember when he got tired of thinking the inevitable and when he got back to sleep.
The next morning, he woke up and started getting ready for his match. That wasn’t any important match, but he liked to dress in full attire for every single game he played. And he was the only player to do so in both the teams. As he was about to step out of home, his mother shouted sarcastically, “much ado about nothing, isn’t it?”
He couldn’t resist asking, “what do you mean ‘nothing’? This is everything to me.”
“I don’t know much about cricket, but even ‘I’ wouldn’t need gloves, pads and helmet to play a tennis ball game with the kids.”
“You wouldn’t understand it, Ma. It is called always dress up for the job you want.”
“You know Rakesh, that Gupta Ji’s fourteen-year-old son, don’t you?”
“Yeah, what about him?”
“He roams around the neighbourhood whole day wearing underwear up his pants and thinking he will be Superman someday. I will be damned to see the day he became Superman like I will be damned to see the day you played real cricket.”
“Old age and TV are getting to you. Read some books instead, will you?” He said and left home in frustration.
Adi was walking carrying his bat in one hand and three stumps in another. He was immersed deep into some imaginary thoughts as he was walking the dusty road of the small town he lived in. That was another challenge he had to face every day. Not the walking part but dreaming big in a small-town part. People in his hometown didn’t believe in doing anything extraordinary. They were born, studied as they were told to, worked in a job as they were told to, married someone as they were told to, made babies as they were told to, and died as they were told to. Nothing was ever out of the equation. Some people did try to get out of the equation but had turned out as a failure and got back as soon as they had realized their mistake. Now they were set as examples by the others. But Adi—he was a different breed altogether. He didn’t believe in those philosophies of life and would rebel against anyone who told him otherwise. To him, life was very simple: do what you love, otherwise what’s the point of living.
Adi had planned to pick up Gopi for the match but instead decided to go see Meera first. After he reached the front of her house, he took a right-side road leading to the back of her house. Of course, he didn’t want to see her parents. He just wanted to see her out of her window, which was in the back of her house. He called her on her mobile. After a very long ring, she picked up and answered, “Hey!”
“Please come out to your window, would you?”
“Do I have to? I am still sleeping,” she replied yawning.
“Yeah, I can tell. But there’s a reason I am standing under your window, isn’t it?” he replied irritatingly.
“Okay, hold on for a minute.”
It seemed forever while he waited for her to open the window. After a very long time, she appeared and asked on the call, “tell me, what’s up?”
“Do you really wear a polo t-shirt to sleep every day?”
“Did you just come all the way here to ask this?”
“No, I came to ask you to hurry up.”
“Hurry up for what? Are we getting married?”
“Oh, come on! No, hurry up to ask whatever you were planning to ask Shiva.”
“Shivaratri is only next week. Why don’t you have any patience?”
“I have a lot of patience, but apparently others don’t. Please do that, and I will see you later. I am late for the match.”
“Wait, aren’t you forgetting to say something?”
“Yeah, you should really comb your hair first thing in the morning.”
“Bye!” she said in irritation and closed the window.
Surprisingly, Gopi was already up and ready when Adi had reached his house. Without saying a word, they started walking towards the school ground. The school ground was in front of the government high school where Adi was working as a science teacher. It was the only proper ground in the entire town and the most suited place for all the important tournaments. During morning hours, however, the locals utilised it for their everyday practice. Adi and Gopi used to practice their matches with other college students. Occasionally, they would play small tournaments with other local clubs within the district. Adi was the captain of his club which had a team of sixteen players. For practice matches, they would divide the players into two teams. Adi would be the captain of one team and Gopi the captain of another.
When they were about to reach the ground, Adi asked hitting rubble on the road with his bat, “what made you change your mind?”
“Change my mind for what?”
“I thought you weren’t going to encourage me any further.”
“I am eager to see how this all ends, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” Adi replied taking an air of satisfaction.
After reaching the ground, they called out to their team who had already started practising fielding. They set up the pitch by fixing the stumps and got ready for the toss. The usual practice match was completed in about three hours, with each inning played for a maximum of 20 overs. The winning prize money was 200 rupees, which the losing team had to pay. The prize money, otherwise unnecessary, was kept only to make the game more competitive. More often, the winning money would be used to buy the game equipment or for a tea party for both teams. That was the life in that town: celebration for every small occasion.
Adi won the toss and chose to bat first. He smiled and kept the tossed 10 rupees coin in his pocket. The usual openers were already on the pitch ready to face the first ball. Gopi was bowling first and looked very aggressive. He kept the batters scared in the first over with his unusual pace. They could only manage 1 run in the first over. Then came the second bowler, who was known as the best bowler in both the teams and proved even more dangerous than Gopi. He bowled the second over a maiden one. And with a maiden over, pressure had started building up, making Adi more worried, sitting outside the boundary.
As per the statistics, Adi’s team was overall better in batting than the Gopi’s, and the Gopi’s being better at bowling. This kept the overall team balanced. But today, the statistics didn’t give a damn about rat’s ass. The last over of the first spell was being bowled and the team had only managed 15 runs in 5 overs. At this rate, they could only dream of winning the match. The openers planned to manage this last over without losing any wicket. Then, there would be other overs to build up the runs. The first 4 balls were all the dots; they didn’t want to rotate the strike, they just wanted not to lose any wickets. The fifth ball was an unconventional low yorker. The batter lifted the bat only too late and was clean bowled. 15 runs in 5.5 overs with the loss of 1 wicket was a big blow. The bigger blow was when the next unsettled batter couldn’t judge a slower one and gave a very easy catch to the third man.
Adi was shaking his head in disapproval. He just couldn’t believe this unacceptable performance from his team. Losing this match would mean a long lecture from Gopi and he was not at all ready for that. The backup plan was building up in his mind. At first, he wanted to go bat fourth, but there wouldn’t be anyone better to finish. So, he resisted the temptation and sent another one instead. He said to him, ‘don’t worry about the score. Play your natural game and say to Rajesh that he is a piece of shit. He will know what I mean.’ Rajesh was the opener who was still batting.
The next nine overs were comparatively better scoring than the first six. After the damage done by the best two bowlers, the team had managed to score 73 runs with the loss of another 2 wickets, putting the score to 88 runs with the loss of 4 wickets. This was, however, not enough to set a decent total. The next 5 slog overs required some heavy-hitting, but the challenge was Gopi and the other bowler still had one over each left to bowl. Adi didn’t seem to worry about losing right now. He wanted the team to score as much as they could with the ongoing momentum. And the momentum could have been steadier if Rajesh hadn’t hit the next ball with the top of his bat. He was caught out in the long-off and Adi couldn’t help but scream in frustration.
Adi was walking to bat next. Millions of thoughts were flooding his brain and he was struggling to discard them one by one. He had a look at Gopi once and the smirk on his face put a fire in his brain. He forgot everything about the score, fall of the wickets and the remaining overs to score maximum runs. He reached the pitch, took his stance and was ready to face the first ball. It was a bouncer and he just managed to duck in time. The next ball was right over the left wicket and Adi couldn’t hit it. He observed the proud smile on the bowler’s face helplessly. The confident bowler tried a variation, and before the ball would land on the pitch, Adi smelled something funny. It was the smell of bad delivery, and he was ready. In the split second, he hit the ball out of the boundary in the straight. It was the longest six of the match. The bowler was stunned and felt as if he was about to get a stroke. He bowled the next ball very carefully in the offside and it was met with a similar result. Adi took a single in the last ball to keep the strike to himself.
Adi knew it very well that 101 runs in 16 overs weren’t enough. He played another two overs for a little higher than an average rate and the team managed to score 19 runs putting the score to 120. The next bowler was Karthik, one of the best bowlers in the team. And he should have prayed harder to keep his reputation because Adi was in no mood for mercy. He smashed almost every delivery of the over to the boundary, scoring 27 runs with three sixes and two fours. No one had ever seen Adi batting like that before, and no one had ever seen Karthik that embarrassed before. Everybody in the bowling team thought it was just a bad over and the damage could still be repaired if the runs in the last over were controlled.
So, Gopi decided to bowl last over to Adi to break his lucky spell. He delivered a perfect low full toss to the offside and before the ball could land, it was made to vanish in the long-off. The next four deliveries seemed to be the worst nightmare of his life. Every single ball was hit a sixer. And Gopi had never been so helpless before. He wasn’t bowling the bad deliveries, but he just wasn’t able to control Adi from hitting every single one of them. The last ball he tried a slower one and Adi made a silly last mistake to give it a catch in cover. But it was too late for them to celebrate for the destruction was done. Adi managed to throw a smile at Gopi, and he nodded back in acknowledgement.
Adi had scored 91 runs putting up the team’s total to 177. Gopi was still hopeful because he knew the opposition’s bowling was very weak. A good start and a few lucky overs should be enough to win the match. So, he instructed the openers to maintain the required run rate without taking any risk and to keep an open eye for any bad deliveries. And the openers did the same. They left out the good deliveries and smashed the bad ones to the boundary. They were playing very steadily maintaining the run rate of 10 per over. After 12 overs, they had scored 118 runs without losing any wicket. Therefore, it was Adi’s team who were under huge pressure. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t do much with the ball.
Ball after ball, over after over, the bowlers were failing to stop the settled batters. When Adi came to bowl the 17th over, he hadn’t had much hope. He bowled the first yorker, and boom, the opener was clean bowled. Just like that, the team got their first breakthrough. Then came the new batter and Adi bowled his second ball short over the left stump. The batter snicked it and was caught out in the slip. The third ball was a bouncer to the new batter. The fourth was a full-length delivery, to which the batter gave a catch over mid-on. The second opener was now on strike and Adi bowled him a full toss. The batter didn’t expect a full toss and he hit it with the top of his bat giving a catch to Adi. The last ball was hit a six, which didn’t bother Adi anymore.
After Adi had dismantled the whole batting line-up, the team managed to take the remaining wickets by 19 overs and 4 balls. Gopi’s team had scored 166 runs and lost the match by 11 runs. But for some reason, it didn’t affect Adi much. He only had a feeling that it didn’t matter anymore. He wasn’t scared, and he knew he was going to do alright. He concluded that, maybe, the Lord Shiva’s blessing was working now only because he had decided to help himself.
It was the 11th of March, the day of Shivaratri, and Meera was unusually excited and happy. She woke up at 4 AM in high spirits and started getting ready for the festival. After four hours, she had donned a beige and teal green silk saree bordered with blue embroidery. She paired it with gold tassel earrings, a gold chain with teardrop pendant, and purple silk thread bangles studded with gold stones. And she looked so serene and ravishing that even God felt proud of his creation.
She was on her way to the temple to offer her prayers. Adi was supposed to meet her halfway and walk the rest of the distance. And when he met her, his jaw dropped so low that it almost touched the ground. Meera blushed at his reaction and asked, “are you alright? You don’t look okay.”
He replied still looking stunned, “Of course, I am not okay. How often do you see your girlfriend dressed like a goddess?”
She giggled and said, “Not every day gets to be your birthday, right? Wish you a very happy birthday, love. May all your dreams come true.”
Those words didn’t fall to Adi’s ears. They continued walking towards the temple while he still couldn’t lay his eyes off her face. Meera noticed and said, “will you say something, or will you just keep staring?”
“Yeah, sorry. I wanted to tell you about yest-yesterday’s-yesterday’s match. And-and that, you look divinely gorgeous today.”
“Oh, thank you. What’s gotten to you today? You don’t normally compliment me this much. Let me breathe it in for a moment.” Seconds later, she asked while still smiling, “Anyway, you wanted to tell something about the match. What is it?”
“About that, I don’t remember anymore. I guess, maybe, the lord has started listening to your prayers.”
“How do you mean?”
“I have started performing well in cricket. Better than ever. I am not scared anymore, and everything has started improving naturally ever since that practice match last week. It’s like bat and ball making a connection with my heart. I have never felt like this before.”
“It’s all about believing, isn’t it? You are going to keep flying.”
“More about you believing in it than me. It’s just you, to be honest. In everyone else’s eyes, I am already a loser.”
“Not for long, you aren’t. And since when did you start worrying about other’s opinions anyway?”
“You’re right, I shouldn’t. Thank the lord for me and pray that he keeps looking out.”
“You know I will. But why don’t you do it yourself? You will feel better.”
“Oh, I would, but I had chicken salad in the morning. I can’t really come inside the temple.”
“Seriously? You are a vegetarian.”
“Am I though? Maybe I am eating all kinds of stuff when you are not around.”
“Will you stop with your stories? I know you well.”
“Yeah, you do. And you know it too that Shiva listens only to you. So, you go ahead and offer your prayers. I will wait outside until you are back.”
She sighed and said, “Okay. I knew you were not going to change your mind.”
“As you said, you know me too well,” he replied.
After Meera had gone inside the temple, Adi stayed just outside and leaned against the wall. He took out a chewing gum pack from his pocket and pulled off a stick. He rolled the gum over his tongue and started chewing it mercilessly. Very soon, he was lost in his deep thought. He was flying in his dreams when he heard Gopi calling him from the ground. He pretended to ignore him, and he continued flying. But his ignorance didn’t have much effect for someone had decided to invade his dream by shaking his body constantly. Adi opened his eyes in disbelief to see Gopi standing in front of him, panting like a dog.
Adi uttered immediately, “what the fork, mate? Why are you running around like a ghost in the morning?”
“Didn’t mean to startle you. Have got some news. One good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?” Gopi said slowly in a deep voice trying to sound mysterious.
“Why do you always have to jinx the good news? Blurt it out, the good one first.”
“Guess what? Looks like our team’s performance is spreading around the town. We might get a golden opportunity to represent our district in the district league next month. We have to win one qualifying match against Champions Club of Kishangunj and we are good to play the district.”
Adi tried to control his happiness and said, “this is good. Just that no sub-district has ever won a match against Kishangunj, especially our Shivpur. But we won’t waste our chance. We have a lot to do, don’t we? Let’s go and get the team ready.”
Adi had already forgotten the bad news and was ready to leave when Gopi stopped him and said, “that brings me to the second news: I won’t be able to play this match.”
“You, what?” Adi replied in utter shock as if he didn’t hear what he thought he heard.
“I won’t be able to play this match. I have some other commitments.”
“Sorry, again what?” Adi asked intentionally still in shock.
“I won’t be able to play the next match, Adi. Didn’t you hear it the first two times?”
“I did hear it mate, but I am still doing all the permutations and combinations in my mind to figure out the insane reason behind your statement. Till now, I haven’t found any.”
“I know it is a bit shocking, but I really can’t. As I said, I have other commitments.”
“Every sentence you are speaking is objectionable at so many levels. A bit shocking? Really? You are the best bowler in the team; we don’t have any chance without you. And what commitments are you talking about? What can be more important than this? We have literally waited years for this small opportunity, and you are ready to blow it off. I can’t understand a word you are talking,” Adi said furiously.
“I have made a promise, Adi. Please try to understand, I can’t really play this match.” Gopi said in a convincing tone.
“Before I attempt to kill you in front of this temple, you better start making sense.”
“I have a girlfriend, Adi. I met her online last week. I will tell you all about it later, but in short, I have promised her I won’t be playing the next match.”
Adi’s eyes were wide open in surprise. His brain was processing a lot of information simultaneously. He was struggling to believe the things he had just heard. His mind was frozen, and he could not find a single reasonable thing to say next. He wanted to argue with him; he wanted to fight. But for no reason, he gave up. And of all things, he could only ask, “why?”
Gopi was still calm and was watching Adi attentively. He replied, “there is no ‘why’. It’s a question of respect. She doesn’t want me to play for some time. I understand her and respect her decision.” He paused for a few seconds and then continued, “look, I know it doesn’t make sense right now. But a promise is a promise. I wouldn’t drop off a match without a reason.”
And then Adi lost it and blurted, “piss off, you halfwit bastard. The last thing you are being now is being reasonable. You know what, forget about the match. You don’t qualify. Spare me your explanations. Do me a favour and don’t bother showing me your face again.”
Adi went inside the temple looking for Meera. His face was still red in anger. He roamed around chamber after chamber and finally found her coming out of the goddess Parvati shrine. He calmed down looking at her. After a split second, he said, “can we go home? Please don’t ask; I will explain everything later.” Meera nodded and they walked home in silence.
Adi spent the next couple of days in his home loathing Gopi. And the further next couple of days in mourning as if someone had died. In all fairness, he couldn’t fathom the complexity and stupidity of human nature. He wanted to believe it was all a nightmare, and if he woke up everything would be alright again. Only that it wouldn’t. So, Adi just lingered on doing nothing and remembering all those things Gopi had ever said to him about cricket. He remembered his childhood when they were 3 years old playing around with plastic bat and ball. He remembered all those years of matches they played together losing one after another. He remembered how Gopi used to mock him for his stupidity but always encouraged him to play better. He remembered and remembered, and all those memories kept echoing in his mind.
It was driving him insane forcing him to go into limbo. And if Meera hadn’t come to his rescue, he would have become a crazy dog trapped in oblivion. Somehow, she had managed to convince him that his friend would still be around to patch things up, but the opportunity to play the match as next wouldn’t. Gradually, he came to his senses and began planning for the qualifier. The qualifier was in ten days, and the more he pondered over it, the simpler the plan seemed. To be more concise, it was rather left to fate than to a well-organised plan.
Without Gopi, the bowling side was at their weakest, and the team knew well that they would be hammered beyond imagination. Gopi was not only the best bowler of the town but also the vice-captain of their team who would help with the wise decisions on the field. So, the responsibilities lay entirely on Adi’s shoulders. The additional responsibilities meant an extra impact on his performance on the field. And Adi feared the heavy stress might take a toll on his talent. That being considered, he didn’t want his team to be less prepared. Lucky for him, every team member was already motivated to do the impossible. And thus, the preparation began.
Every morning for the next eight days, the players arrived on the field by 4’o clock. They would begin by discussing the plan for the practice match, which primarily included batting and bowling order, field positions and difficulties if any. Then they played two to three matches in succession. After that, they would take a lunch break for a couple of hours. Thereafter, they would discuss what went wrong in the first half of the day and measures to be taken to improve them in the next half. Following that, they would play another three to four matches considering all the factors required to improve their game. In the end, before retiring for the day, they would meet for a retrospection session. And in that session, they would measure the improvement for each player and get feedback from every other on their game.
After days of rigorous practice, Adi had to conclude that it was impossible to win the match in the given circumstances. For sure, they were in their best form with peak motivation. But the Champions Club was unrivalled in their district with the help of the best players the town had ever seen. And Adi knew they would need a lot of luck and miracles to win the next game.
One day before the game, they decided their playing eleven. They didn’t have the luxury of extras, so the final team members included 5 batters, 2 all-rounders and 4 bowlers. And the notepad looked something like the below:
Friends’ Club squad: Adi (Captain), Rajesh (wicketkeeper), Suraj, Mausam, Krishna, Sourabh, Mayank, Karthik (vice-captain), Sanjay, Neeraj and Prasad.
Standby players: None
Honorary mention: Gopi (Traitor, backstabber, filthy-snake-disguised-as-friend, Et tu brute)
The boys decided to disperse early for the day. “Have a good sleep for at least nine hours,” Adi said while leaving.
He reached home, glanced at his mother and said, “M’ gonna make you pride, Ma.”
Before his mother could reply anything, he said, “yeah, I know you have a lot of winging to do. I will leave you to it.” He entered his room and closed the door.
To take his mind off cricket for a while, he started playing some mobile games. Then he made several unsuccessful attempts at reading. He also tried to watch television for distraction but couldn’t keep up with the story. He was lacking focus. He texted Meera if they could meet, but that didn’t work out too. She was busy engaging some distant relatives who were in town for a few days. So, Adi was left alone with his endless thoughts. And the thoughts were making him restless. He was on the verge of having a panic attack; he wanted to scream for no reason. He wished to go for a run, but his body was too tired to move. He needed to rest desperately, however his body and mind were totally out of sync. Then a familiar fear crept on his mind. That fear had knocked down his convictions several times. Very soon, he started questioning the meaning of his existence. He closed his eyes and prayed to God for help, but there was no answer. He feared he might be in grave trouble.
He couldn’t remember when he fell asleep. The time on his phone said it was 5 AM. There was also a text from Meera: Best of luck. Will see you in the field. God is on your side. The match would start after five hours. He got out of his bed to freshen up. He had light breakfast and reached the field at six. He texted the team to reach as fast as they could. In the meanwhile, he decided to run for a warmup.
By seven o’clock, the whole team was on the ground for a pre-match practice game. When they were fixing the stumps, they saw Gopi approaching the field with his head down. He tried to raise his hand for waving, but instead spoke in a very low voice, “hey guys, what are you guys up to?”
Karthik moved towards him and said, “what are you doing here, Gopi? You have no business being here today.”
“I came to ask if you guys could consider me in today’s match,” he said in contempt.
Adi came forward and answered bluntly, “there is no position for you in the team, Gopi. You are embarrassing yourself with your presence here.”
“I regret what I have done. I want to make up for everything. Please give me a chance to prove myself,” he replied in guilt.
“So, let me get this straight. While we were practising our butt off, you were busy being elsewhere. And now you have come to claim your position like it has been your birthright,” said Adi.
“I haven’t been sitting idle. I’ve been practising too, just not with you guys. And I don’t want a privilege. I want to qualify like every other player. Please consider my request if I meet your expectations. I wouldn’t mind even if you don’t,” Gopi said genuinely. His eyes looked ashamed. He was standing with his hands behind his back, and his fingers were crossed. And in his mind, he was begging repeatedly please, please, please.
Adi was ready to tell him to piss off when he received a text notification. He took out his phone to check the message. It was from Meera: I know you will make the right decision in considering Gopi for today’s match.
What the hell! How does she know about this? Adi thought and kept his phone back in his pocket. He then turned to Gopi and said, “I have to check with the team on this. Do you mind stepping aside while we make a decision?”
“Not at all,” Gopi replied and moved away from the pitch. When he was far enough, he bent down to pick a few pebbles. He got up and started juggling to keep himself busy.
Adi knew Gopi would be a good addition to the team, but he didn’t want to make that decision himself. He said to everyone, “what are your thoughts? We shouldn’t let him play, right?”
It was Prasad who replied, “if we are being honest, he is the best bowler among everyone present here. I mean, when I compare myself with him, he is at least ten times a better player than I am. We should keep our differences aside for this game. I would be happy to be substituted by him.”
“Does everyone agree with Prasad? We don’t have to include him if anyone has an objection,” said Adi.
Everyone agreed in unison. Adi was happy the decision came from the team. He said to them, “cool! But let’s not give him an easy way in. Let’s see how much he has been practising.”
He turned to Gopi and shouted, “grab the ball and show what you have got. You have got an over to prove your worth.”
The stumps were ready. Adi picked up the bat and Gopi was on another end ready to bowl. He ran up and bowled a good length over the off stump. Adi knew he would do that and was waiting for it. His bat connected perfectly with the ball, and it was a huge six over the gully.
Adi commented in sarcasm, “was that the best you could do?”
“I have got five more deliveries to go, haven’t I?” Gopi replied enthusiastically.
“Apparently, you have.”
The next three deliveries were wide yorkers outside off-stump. Adi could hardly reach them. However, the next one was a low full toss on his body. And Adi didn’t miss to judge it and drove it for another six in mid-on. The last one, Gopi bowled exactly the same as before but with a slower pace. Unfortunately, Adi played the same shot without making a contact with the bat. And the ball hit mid stump getting him bowled out.
Gopi portrayed his acceptance in the playing eleven through his wicked smile.
The legends of Champions Club were known to everyone in the district and probably to some in the state too. They were the undisputable district champion and had been representing Simaro district in the state for the past five years. Their team had the finest professional players who had dedicated their whole life playing cricket. Their captain, Rakesh Rathore, was also a part of the state team. And this year, a few more players were looking forward to it. For that reason, this match was more important to them. And when they had heard they were playing against Shivpur, they had breathed the air of relief among themselves. They knew this was going to be the easiest knock out match they had ever played.
And for Friends Club, this was going to be the toughest match they had ever imagined. For them, it was a question of saving the embarrassment among the familiar faces in their home ground. But they were not scared, for they had nothing to lose.
The crowd had gathered in huge numbers before the time. Adi’s eyes were searching for Meera, and when they had finally spotted her, he ran to her as fast as he could. “Do you have any last-minute luck for me?” he asked.
“You have all the luck in your favour today. And you have the lord’s blessing too. Just don’t forget to listen to your heart selflessly,” she said happily.
“Yep, got it. Thinking with a heart is the key to winning the game. Worst case scenario, you should be prepared too. Because if we lose this match, I am going to cry you a river,” he said and hurried back to the field for the toss.
Champions Club won the toss and decided to field first. Adi was a bit disappointed because he wanted to bowl first too. Chasing with a total in mind would have been more convenient for him. Now he didn’t know what a good total against their rival in the twenty overs match would be.
Rajesh and Suraj were sent to bat first, and the rest of the players sat outside the boundary with Mausam and Krishna ready to come next. The openers started slower than expected. For the first four overs, they could only manage to score 18 runs. There were only two more overs left in the powerplay and the batters had failed to take advantage so far. Frustration was building up inside Adi, and he signalled the players to hit or come back.
The openers felt the pressure. And the next delivery was hit a long-long way in the straight for a six. They tried well to rotate the strike for the next five deliveries with singles and doubles. At the end of the fifth over, the score was 31.
At the start of the next over, Rajesh was caught out while attempting to hit another boundary. Mausam came for the batting next. Adi had told him not to play slower for the current over as the run rate might be slower in the upcoming overs. So, he continued slamming the balls to the boundary. And although he got away with a six and a four, he was clean bowled in the last ball setting the score total to 45.
For the next batter, the instructions were very clear: keep on rotating the strike without losing a wicket for a few overs, look out for weaker deliveries, and come back when you can’t do any of these. They considered coming back as a better alternative. The next six overs were a complete disaster. There were only a few boundaries, scattered singles and doubles, and a loss of five wickets. The team’s score was 64-7 at the end of the twelfth over.
Adi was yet to come to bat, and among the rest, Suraj was the only batter left. Now Suraj and Sanjay were on the crease, and they were struggling to score without losing a wicket. There were so many weak shots that everyone knew the end was near. And this fact was further backed up when Suraj got out in the fourteenth over with only 73 runs on the board.
Everyone was certain Adi would come to bat next, but surprisingly, Gopi was sent instead. “I know you haven’t scored ten runs in your lifetime, but please don’t lose your wicket. And don’t even consider connecting with the bat, unless it is hitting the stumps,” Adi said to Gopi before he went to crease.
Gopi went to Sanjay first and whispered, “the captain said to play like the last game of your life. There is no tomorrow for us if we lose this match.” Adi had not said anything like that, but it charged him up a little. He hit a boundary, took 3 doubles, and scored a single before getting out in the seventeenth over. He had scored 13 runs, the highest of his lifetime.
With 9 wickets down in 17 overs, the score was a low total of 89 runs. Adi came to crease finally as the last batter. And the game was still on when he smashed the first bouncer for six in the slip. And the next delivery for another six over deep cover. The third six was hit in the straight with a hattrick. After that, another one in the slip. For the next delivery, he was already waiting and had smashed a huge one in the straight long way from the ground. And the last one was also a sixer in the long on over the captain of the opposition.
Adi had gone crazy; he could only see the incoming ball and the boundary. He was not at rest, not even after hitting six sixes in an over. And in the other end, Gopi was taken aback with his jaw wide open. He came to congratulate Adi after the last six, but Adi said in a neutral voice, “game is not over yet. Concentrate on taking a single to give me the strike, otherwise, all these will be for nothing.”
The nineteenth over was a maiden one. Gopi couldn’t manage to get even a single run. But he managed to stay on crease without getting out. That was enough for Adi as he had got one moreover to add runs in the total. And more runs, he did add. He hit a four followed by another hat-trick of sixes and a single. The last ball was a dot making a total of 148 runs.
“Reckon we can defend it?” Adi asked Gopi while walking back to the players’ stand.
“Do we have any other option?” he answered rhetorically with a smile.
Post the innings break, Adi’s team was back on the field. The fielders took the pre-planned positions, and Gopi was ready to bowl the first over. He gave 10 runs without taking a wicket. Adi went next and he gave 11. And the next few overs went like a fast-forwarded movie. It was raining sixes and fours, and there was not much left for the fielders to do. All the good length deliveries were crushed away along the boundaries. And the bowlers were helpless; none of their variations seemed to be working.
And just like that, they had scored 141 runs in 16 overs without losing any wicket. This made the motivation of the bowling team hit rock bottom. The sad look on their faces was killing Adi. He desperately wanted a plan that could work. But he simply couldn’t come up with any. He called Gopi for any last-minute advice.
“Anything in mind for death overs before we can all retire from cricket,” Adi asked impatiently.
“Not sure what we can try, but I have been making observations. They want to go home early. They will probably try to win the match in next over itself. We can attempt to delay the inevitable,” Gopi said.
“Care to explain?”
“We have been making desperate attempts in the last few overs to get a wicket. I propose now we try to save the runs,” Gopi explained.
“We have already tried that with other bowlers, but let’s do that again. The next four overs are only left for us. Let’s keep all the deliveries away from the batters. Only wide yorkers and low full toss away from the off stump. And let’s add a few extra fielders in the slip.”
Gopi bowled the seventeenth over as per the plan, however, they still managed to score two runs out of it. And the opposition needed only 6 runs for a win in 3 overs.
Adi came to bowl the next over. He started with a perfect yorker in the middle stump when the batter was least expecting it, and in a fraction of a second, the captain of Champions Club was bowled out. The whole crowd had fallen silent for a moment before they realized they had witnessed a miracle. There was a huge roar afterwards. However, Adi was still maintaining his gravity and was unmoved. His next delivery was right in the blockhole and the batter was sent back before he could settle in. After that, he bowled a low full toss in the leg stump. The batter left it for a wide before realising the gravest mistake of his life. And with that, Adi had taken hat-trick wickets. He was still not in any mood for a celebration. Another two deliveries from him were purely unplayable as wide yorkers. And the last one was a slower one in the offside which the batter snicked to the keeper.
Champions Club needed to score only six runs in the two overs, but their top order batters were already dismissed by Adi. Gopi bowled the nineteenth over with the previous game plan. All the balls were bowled away from the body and were pretty successful deliveries. He gave away three singles though.
Adi gave a single in his first three deliveries of the last over. One more run would call for a super over and a two would make it a win. The next two deliveries were dots, and the last one was an angled ball aimed straight at the pad. And without a doubt, the umpire’s finger was up for LBW. Friends Club had miraculously become the district champion.
Gopi came for a usual impractical discussion in the evening. He had today’s local newspaper with him. He went to the terrace and sat in a wooden chair beside Adi. “The small-town boy makes a big victory with an amazing six sixes in an over,” he read aloud looking at Adi.
“They didn’t mention my name. And they obviously didn’t mention my hattrick wickets.”
“Can’t believe you are still winging,” Gopi said. He paused for a while and continued, “have you thought what are you going to do with the prize money? It’s a large sum this time.”
“Yeah, the school’s library could use a lot of new books. There aren’t much left.”
“And our team could use a few good bats. And a mat. And stumps.”
“Not more than this town’s kids’ education. You should know this already.”
Gopi chose not to argue, after all, they had won the match because of Adi. He said, “what was your mom’s and Meera’s reaction after yesterday’s win?”
“Can’t believe Meera was serious about getting the autograph. It felt like she had already visioned the match. And Ma, she has been unusually silent. No more sarcastic comments. She has been cooking all my favourite dishes though.”
“Good for you, lady luck is finally paying her regards,” he said and pretended to read the newspaper. He was trying his best to avoid the upcoming topic.
Adi grew impatient after a while and said, “are you still not going to talk about your girlfriend situation?”
“I hoped you could spare me the embarrassment. There wasn’t much of a relationship. Don’t know why she didn’t want me to play cricket. Maybe she just desired to feel dominant. Anyway, I wanted to see her reaction when I told her I had not opted out of the match, even though I had. You wouldn’t believe she dumped me without saying a word,” he waited for Adi’s reaction.
Adi was laughing vigorously pointing his forefinger towards him. He was irritated and got up to leave. Adi didn’t care and continued roaring in laughter.