India vs Australia, 13th June, 1983

"Sunil Gavaskar apparently is injured and has been left out. Can this cost them the match?"

"Goodness, it's that match," said Cheeka.

"It is," said Roger wryly.

"Why didn't Kabir omit this match?" wondered Cheeka out loud, like he was actually contemplating on it. "Isn't the whole point of the movie to show us winning?"

"Thank god no one made you a film director," said Dilip, who'd overheard, because unsurprisingly Cheeka had not been talking, he'd been yelling.

"Chappel displaying a tremendous array of strokes."

"That's been dropped...! Chappel given a life by Roger Binny...this could be costly."

"The captain clearly looks frustrated with his players. Too many missed opportunities...too many. Well, I hate to say this but the Indians are looking like amateurs today."

"You know what, Kaps," said Madan conversationally. "We actually went to bed that day feeling things are returning to normal."

"What does that mean?" asked Kapil suspiciously as on-screen Kapil glared at his team at the lunch break.

"Maddi—" said Jimmy.

"Stop being peaceful for one second," Madan told him tartly. "All of us—including this guy sitting beside you—had been feeling everything was off-balance since we won the first two matches, and were on top of Group B and all that..."

"Then we were thrashed by Australia," said Jimmy, giving in. "And it felt like what happened wasn't nice, but at least the ground beneath our feet had stabilized."

On the field, Kapil took wickets to pull something back for India.

"After some dismal fielding from India, Kapil Dev has taken the bowling to the opposition."

"I suppose you've spent your whole life off-balance since 25th June, 1983," said Kapil, annoyed.

Kirti snickered and indicated at the screen. Jimmy and Maddi looked up and found on-screen Kapil wearing a very similar expression as the real one was, right then.

"Well bowled, skipper," said Roger, catching up with Kapil. "Congratulations on the fifer..."

Kapil nodded briefly and looked straight ahead grimly as he walked. Jimmy and Roger exchanged a look before Roger walked ahead.

"Ki huya hai, Kaps?" asked Jimmy quietly.

"Match abhi khatam nahi huya Jim pa," said Kapil in a rather aggressive tone.

Jimmy offered Kapil a contrite pat on the shoulder to which the latter didn't react.

"Yaar tu janta hai uska hamstring kheecha huya hai..." said Jimmy. "Koshish toh kar raha hai wo..."

Swift as anything, Kapil melted.

"You're the nicest vice-captain I could've had, Jim pa," he said for the second time that evening.

"You're the nicest captain we could've had, too," said Maddi, trying to be the nice-guy like Jimmy for once, though even he knew he was just speaking the truth.

Kapil looked at him suspiciously and looked back at the screen. Jimmy grinned at Maddi.

"Meri ummeed Roger se bohot zyada hai. He better than that."

"Dekh Kaps," said Jimmy comfortingly. "Game tough ho raha hai, ab asaani se nahi haarenge."

"Jeetna hai, Jim pa," said Kapil.

Jimmy looked at him in a way that made it clear he did not have much high hopes regarding that.

India proceeded to crumble and lose by 162 runs.

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

"Aisa laga hum khel hi nahi rahe! Pehle hi kandhe gher doge phir kaise ladoge?" Kapil was ranting in the team meeting after the match, in a very bad mood indeed. "Aur agar kisiko injury hai, toh Vally hai replace karne ke liye."

Sunny walked in, limping slightly.

"How's leg?" asked Kapil.

"Better," said Sunny.

"Sunny bhai, it's high time, you get run."

In the silence both on-screen and off-screen, Kapil both felt grudgingly admiring towards Kabir Khan for not having taken the easy way out and skirting the sensitive issue, and grateful that he wasn't sitting anywhere near Sunny bhai.

"And Cheeka, you have to control the anger—all the time, playing rash shots, why? Aur kya fielding chal rahi thi aaj?"

Sunny's face mirrored a thundercloud as Kapil's voice scolding his team faded in the background.

Later, Man bhai approached Sunny in the dining hall.

"Sunny bhai..."

"Don't, Man bhai," said Sunny.

Man bhai silently contemplated on the best way to approach.

"Mereko ye samajh me nahi aata, wo team meeting me English me kayeko bolta hai."

Sunny looked up.

"Aapko malum..." said Man bhai. "Kapil pehle Punjabi me sochta. Phir wo ich ko angrezi me bolta. Actual me wo ye kehna chah raha tha...ki runa aapse kab tak muh chhupake bhagenge? Ab toh kaise ich run aapko milega ich milega..."

Sunny's expression softened.

"Angrezi me gadbad ho gayi, niyat me nahi," said Man bhai with a tiny smile.

Sunny smiled back, and then got serious again.

Most of the actors had been glancing at Tahir for a while now, for this was well known to be the toughest scene to act in the whole film, though Jiiva would disagree and say his entire role had been the toughest.

For the first time, Saqib felt someone might be more nervous than him, and that realization eased his nerves a little. Jimmy sir didn't have a central role till quite some minutes later—

He even reached around Hardy for Jatin's bucket of popcorn, only to find himself grasping empty air.

"Jesus Christ, you finished that already?" he demanded.

"Hardy ate more than half," said Jatin, unblinking.

"Yeah sure, I did," said Hardy.

"Sahi toh keh raha hai wo," Sunny said. "Runs to...banana hai mujhe. Lekin apne liye nahi. Team ke liye."

"Ho!" said Man bhai, encouraged. "Kapil team ka jigar hai toh aap team ka balance. Aapke bagair kaise hoyega? Ye usko bhi malum..."

"Kal toh waise bhi nahi khel payunga," said Sunny.

The silence in the theatre forced Saqib to curb his instinct to lob his shoe at Jatin's head with difficulty.

"Lekin kal toh sabse zyada zarurat hai aapki..." protested Man bhai. "Wo West Indies ke bowlers aap ich se darte..."

"Pair abhi bhi suja huya hai."

"Ho, lekin..." began Man bhai.

"Sorry," said Sunny quietly.

Sunny turned and leaned back to say something to Tahir, also quietly. It must have been something good, something really complimentary, because when Sunny turned back, Tahir was smiling, and hid his eyes with his hands a while later.

Man bhai did not press the matter and the media went, 'Gavaskar dropped.'

Hardy, who'd caught the exchange and being the standard ear to confide in of their whole team, knew how much this scene meant to Tahir, also found himself smiling. Saqib, who was normally the kind of guy who got more excited at his friends' successes than at his own, however, felt his nerves return with full force—because it was the horrifying West Indies match and—

India vs West Indies, 15th June, 1983

Saqib wished he hadn't realized it was the West Indies match at all.

"Skipper, my hamstring's feeling much better now," Roger told Kapil. "Let me bowl in this match."

Kapil looked from Roger to Vally—who'd been warming up—and back.

"Ok, Humphrey. You bowl today."

"Are you going to throw up?" Hardy asked in a teasing whisper.

"Shut up," said Saqib. "Well, maybe."

Jatin offered him the empty container of popcorn helpfully. This time Saqib snatched it out of his hands and aimed it at his head violently.

The screen was now blaring Viv Richards's theme music as he made merry on the field.

"Looks like Richards has chosen this match for his team's march towards another World Cup final."

The sound and movement made Kapil, Jimmy and Maddi look back.

"What are you guys up to now?" asked Jimmy.

"A masterclass by the two greats of international cricket—Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards."

Jatin promptly threw his friend under the bus.

"He's throwing stuff at my head, Jimmy sir."

"Don't throw stuff at Jat's head, Saqib."

Hardy and Jatin tried and failed not to snigger as Saqib went flaming red and mumbled, "Sorry, Jimmy sir."

"That's a big one! I've not seen the ball hit so high in a long time and it lands straight on the roof of the pavilion," went Farokh.

"West Indies at a massive two hundred and eighty-two."

Jimmy, looking like he knew very well what was happening, grinned at Saqib before turning back to the screen. He must've meant it to be reassuring, but Saqib felt his hands turning to ice.

Cheeka and Shastri got off to a shaky start in the face of West Indies' magical pace.

"And that delivery almost took Srikkanth's head off...!" said Farokh.

"Srikkanth slashes—it's caught behind! India lose an early wicket."

Cheeka was so flustered he started walking off in the wrong direction.

"Where are you going, boss?" taunted Dujon. "The pavilion's over there."

Cheeka dropped his bat on his way out. The scene shifted to the Jimmy walking down the stairs.

Now reel Jimmy's stomach had started hurting.

"Mohinder Amarnath, the next man in."