"Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Madan Lal, Kirti Azad, Sunil Valson," read out PR Man Singh.

"Kapsie," whispered Cheeka, who was seated on Kapil's other side. "Why do you think, your and Jim pa's names were listed on top?"

"What a brain teaser," commented Roger from Cheeka's left.

"Singh saab, in sabka samaan aap kyu leke ja rahe?" asked one of the government clerks.

"Kyuki ye sab loga pehle se ich England me hai. County cricket khel rahe hai..." said Man bhai.

"Gavaskar se captaincy se nikaalke ye? Ye khel lega?" asked the cheekier of the government clerks.

Sunny had known, of course, this issue would come up sooner or later, but he still felt his lips pursing in distaste. As both Sunny and Kapil acknowledged to themselves, the shuttlecock of captaincy between the two of them imposed by the Board had carefully spoilt what could have been a precious lifelong relationship. If they'd done it between Kapil and Jimmy-

No, Jim pa would still have been exactly the same, thought Kapil.

"Isbar toh East Africa bhi nahi khel rahi...haraoge kisko?"

And the very idea of Jim pa taking out his frustration at the Board on him was so ridiculous that Kapil laughed.

"It's not funny," said Maddi severely, thinking he'd laughed at the jibe the government officer had just taken at that team.

"Jesus, Kapsie," said Roger.

"Sorry," said Kapil hastily and resolved not to think of funny scenarios any further.

"Good luck, Singh saab! All the best!"

***

The shot had changed to London, and reel Kapil Dev took up the legend's unique run-up, accurate to the dot, and delivered a perfect ball.

"Well bowled, Kaps," said Jimmy, smiling admiringly.

Kapil turned back to flash a grin and a thumbs-up at Ranveer, who'd been, of course, trying to gauge a reaction.

"Mr. Dev! The call's been connected, sir!"

"Hello, Romi?"

"Romi toh bahar gayi hai Kukku, hum se bhi baat kar liya kar," teased Kapil's brother. "Hein? Yaha kya ho raha hai? Aadhe bachhe doodh pee rahe, aadhe cricket khel rahe. Aur tu bhi wahi kar. Dant ke cricket khel aur jamm ke doodh pee."

Cheeka fell on Kapil, laughing.

"What now?" asked Roger anxiously, wondering what the people around would think of them.

"I named Kapil Dev Nikhanj's famous buffaloes," said Cheeka.

"How could we forget that, Cheeka," said Jimmy.

"His father had got them for him in his childhood," Cheeka explained to Roger. "And it'd never struck him to name them. Guess what I named them?"

"What?" asked Roger wearily.

"Buffa," said Cheeka. "And Lo."

Kapil and Roger exchanged a silent glance, and refrained from commenting.

"Kapil, catch!" cried Madan.

"Oye, impossible hai," said Jimmy, who'd hit the shot. "Kapil ne ye pakad li na, toh jo wo bolega dunga."

"Jim pa," asked Kirti, "when do you not give Kapil what he wants?"

"Plenty of times," said Kapil.

Jimmy looked at him.

"All right-very rarely-very-" began Kapil. "Oh, all right, never."

Kapil missed the catch in spite of a good effort.

"Sorry, sorry yaar, bohot mushkil tha."

"Jimmy paaji keh rahe the tu ye pakad leta toh tu jo maangta wo de dete," said Vally.

"Achha?" said Kapil, turning to Jimmy, who was walking up to them. "Phir toh mai kehta Jim pa, World Cup shuru hone se pehle angrezi sikha do."

"Arey bhai," said Jimmy. "Jaan maang leta wo zyada asaan hota."

"Point," said Cheeka.

"Which was more difficult, Jim pa, teaching me English or teaching Cheeka Hindi?" demanded Kapil.

"No comments," said Jimmy, waving back at the screen.

"Jaan maangne se yaad aya, Lala ji se baat huyi hai aaj?" asked Kapil snidely.

Jimmy's expression changed to frantic. "Mai abhi karke aata hu. Samaan pakad..." He shoved his gloves and bat onto Maddi and ran off.

"Pranam dena mera!" called Kapil after him.

"Waise world ke bade se bade bowler se nahi darrte," said Madan. "Lala ji ka naam aati hai toh kitti padd jati iski."

Kapil shoved Madan, which might've seemed a gesture to defend Jimmy, but the wicked laugh spoilt it.

"Lala ji, cricket ko bhi kaha cricket rehne diya..."

Jimmy's entire team cheered like they were teenagers as he appeared on screen, sipping tea, and started passing smartass comments that went like-

"Imagine Jim pa pretending to be Lala ji in front of Lala ji!"

"You didn't quite get the intimidation factor right, did you, Jim pa?"

"How will he?"

"Be quiet," hissed Jimmy. "We're not alone in this hall."

"When did that dampen these hooligan's spirits?" asked Sunny, glaring at Cheeka, who was laughing maniacally, now draped on Roger.

"Hello? Jimmy puttar? Ki haal hai?" said Lala ji. "Mai tere liye do bottle achaar bhej raha Yash de hath."

The mention of Yash sobered them up quickly.

The scene cut to not two but two dozen bottles of achaar lined on a table.

A ripple of laughter went around the hall.

"Singh saab," said the airport officer. "Itne saare achaar ke botal? London me dukaan kholni hai kya achaar ki?"

"Arey nahi Hazrat, udhar ka khana bohot feeka hota hai. Bagair achaar hallak se neeche kaise utrega miya..."

It brought a smile to the entire team's face; this was exactly the way their manager used to look after all their tiny, irrelevant comforts. Sunny and Dilip, who were sitting on either side of Man bhai, simultaneously attempted to give him a hug and knocked elbows.

"Sunny," complained Dilip.

"Do not create a scene," warned Sunny.

"Huh."

"Aur Singh saab, mera ek kaam kar dena. Autograph lete aana," said the official.

"Arey le lo, le lo, abhi le lo," said Man bhai, immersed in the receipts of extra baggage charge.

Yash and Cheeka stared at the guy.

"Nahi nahi," he said. "Viv Richards ka."

Cheeka fell on Roger for the fourth time in the first seven minutes; Roger mentally tried to count what fraction 7 minutes was of the total runtime of 2 hours 40 minutes.

**************

The real-life passports were being stamped at the entrance of the flight, and most of the team turned to exchange a smile with their reel actors. Jatin looked down at his feet, for a moment, even distracted from munching on popcorn.

The entrance of the West Indies team with the don-music playing in the background brought on a round of applause from the entire audience.

The airhostesses, boarding on the bus, looked back to smile and wave coyly at Patla and Shastri.

"O teri," gasped Ballu. "Plane me? Kab?"

Ravi nodded impressively.

"Abe saale...teri toh abhi abhi engagement huyi hai na?" asked Patla. "Ye sab teri matlab ki baat nahi hai."

"Aren't I glad you weren't engaged to mom back then, dad," Chirag Patil commented drily into his dad's ears.

"Hush," said his father. "Didn't we have a deal not to refer to this part of the story?"

"A part of the story which you very proudly tell everyone."

Kirti dissolved into laughter and exchanged a high-five with Chirag.

"Arey aage suno tum loga," Kiri was discoursing to much general laughter. "Patla bola air hostess ko, 'Hi, I'm Sandip Patil, Sandy for you.' Phir Yashpal full pressure me aake kya bola, 'Hi, I'm Yash to you...'"

The last bit was in a shrill tone; everyone laughed, including Madan, but all the same, he hugged Yash.

For the first time since they got the news of their friend's demise, Madan found himself smiling the tiniest bit at his mention. If he'd got Yash with him for thirty seconds more, he'd do the same. Laugh at him and hug him.

Strangle him.

"Phir agle the Ballu miya. Unhe kya bolna tha...seedha aage aye aur bole...'Hi, I'm Balwinder Singh Sandhu...'" Kiri paused for the dramatic effect. "'Balls to you.'"

The theatre exploded with laughter, those nearest to Ballu slapping him on the back with enthusiasm. Ballu's own laughter was slightly muted.

"Suno sab loga...aaj vegetarians ke vaaste sirf bread butter aur salad manage ho sakta kate."

Cheeka screwed up his face.

"Uncanny," said Kapil.

"What?" asked Cheeka.

"Nothing," said Kapil.

"Arey aise kayeko dekh raha Cheeka? Kal tak..."

"Achha, suno jawano," Kapil broke in. "Pehle toh, welcome to London..."

Everyone clapped, smiling.

Jimmy, somehow, noticed that Saqib, on screen, who had his arm around Yash, did not clap, but squeezed Yash's shoulder instead, which he felt quite sure had not been part of the script. He resolved to give the boy a hug after the movie ended, unaware that at that very moment, Saqib was gazing at him anxiously, like he'd been doing for the past ten minutes.

'Uthh ja ziddi re' started in the background as Kapil cleaned his shoes with derogatory newspapers, Jimmy set his precious red handkerchief on the bed with love and reverence...

Jimmy thought Saqib had nailed the reverence, too. He probably deserved two hugs.

Cheeka hit Roger for a boundary.

"Good shot!" Cheeka cried. "Boundary, bro."

Roger smiled mildly.

Cheeka proceeded to hit Madan, too.

"Aaram se maar na Cheeka! Bhai net practice hai!" said Madan.

"Eh," said Cheeka disparagingly. "When I hit, I hit hard."

"Hein?" demanded Maddi impatiently.

"Maddi pa to life," said Kirti, turning back to punch Hardy on the shoulder. Saqib and Jatin obligingly did the same, because why would they let go a chance of punching Hardy?

"Uff, stop that," said Hardy.

"Humko chumma tukku tukku khelna nahi aata, I know only hitting, macha, go, go, bowl, bowl, go..." said Cheeka.

"Maddi pa, look," called Cheeka. "Looks like everyone knows I'm a better player than you."

"Sure," said Madan sarcastically.

"Oh-oh, Kapsie, did you see," shrieked Cheeka.

"Cheeka!" hissed Roger and Jimmy in horror. "Don't shout like that!"

"I hit Roger and Maddi pa for boundaries," whispered Cheeka. "They were the highest wicket takers in the tournament. And I hit them. That makes me the best batsman of the tournament."

"It does, indeed," said Kapil gravely.

Cheeka fell upon him, laughing. Jiiva, who was sitting behind them, observing Cheeka sir instead of the movie, and was of a much calmer temperament, wondered how he had ever managed to enact this guy.

"Kapil, ise samjha, mai sirr pe maar deni ball."

"Rehen do, Maddi pa, nahi aati use defence."

I must be a genius, concluded Jiiva.

The original team of 1983 certainly thought so.

************

"I feel for the director and producer. You have to bring back Mehmoodji, Keshto Mukherjee and Johnny Walker to just play one role. Put their souls in one actor and then maybe you'll have someone who can play Srikkanth's role."

~Balwinder Singh Sandhu