23rd June, 2013

6 was needed off the last ball, and a bowler was at the crease.

Behind the stumps, Dhoni played a shadow shot and nodded at Ashwin.

This is what he'll go for.

Ashwin nodded back. He looked confident. He walked to his mark confidently.

Just the smallest hints of nervousness in his movements went unnoticed by most.

"Tredwell..." cried Harsha Bhogle to the country as Ash released the ball.

Tredwell played the same shot the Indian captain had shadowed half a minute back.

"TREDWELL MISSES. DHONI MISSES TOO, BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER. INDIA WIN THE CHAMPIONS TROPHY."

***

That day, Birmingham Cricket Ground, Edgebaston, saw a bunch of men in their twenties utterly and entirely out of their minds.

Even Mahi had rarely seen such chaos, and he'd won a World Cup.

But there was a difference between a veteran team having played for years and an inexperienced one put together haphazardly and hastily a month before an international tournament began.

That night, they were all more than a bit mad.

The group hug, jumping up and down went on for almost ten minutes. Mahi, standing placidly at the side, could hear mostly stupid chants of, "WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!"

The kids didn't seem capable of saying much else.

Then Shikhar got the Golden Bat, Rohit shouting at the top of his lungs, "HE'S MY PARTNER! HE'S MY OPENING PARTNER! WE OPENED TOGETHER! MAHI BHAI, WE OPENED TOGETHER!"

"Um, Ro," said Mahi. "I know."

"MAHI BHAI, WE OPENED TOGETHER AND WE WILL ALWAYS OPEN TOGETHER! HE IS MY FAVOURITE BATTING PARTN--"

"Hello?" said Virat.

Rohit was saved by Jaddu being called for Man of the Match of the final as well as the Golden Ball.

"See, Ash," said Jaddu in a superior voice, alluding to some inside joke Mahi had no idea about, and started to stride to receive his booty, but he didn't go far.

Ash made a wild grab for him and caught his trousers, jerking Jaddu back. Everyone roared, the players and crowd alike, as Jaddu struggled to free himself.

"Ash," said Mahi bhai. "Is this what you want to be remembered for from this night in the future?"

Ash was vaguely aware that he wouldn't always be feeling so high on life, and if he went any further, he would probably end up regretting all his sober life, so he hastily let go.

Afterwards, when they were presented the trophy--Mahi quickly let Shikhar have it; he had no interest having his team ogling at him like a pack of wolves--and thereupon began the fight for the trophy. Shikhar raised it and kissed it, and Jaddu wanted to do the same, claiming the Golden Ball was as important as the Golden Bat, but had Mahi thought Shikhar would let go?

Of course not.

Jaddu had to kiss it with Shikhar still keeping a possessive hold on it. Virat and Rohit and Bhuvi tried to put a finger to it around and above the two stars over the first round of photographs.

Mahi wished there had been only one round of photographs.

But no.

They still had to pose in front of the 'CHAMPIONS' banner and Virat lost it entirely there. He began with dancing, which wasn't so bad ("Go, Virat, go!" shrieked Bhuvi, louder than anyone had ever heard him). Then it turned to push-ups and Mahi thought god only knew what. Hell, probably even god didn't know.

People always clapped for monkeys in a circus, however, so Virat received a wild, wild round of applause.

With the official photos out of the way, they took the victory round, a blue army with white blazers, juggling with the trophy--at one point, Jaddu was kissing it like it was his girlfriend, at one point Ishant had it atop his head--dancing and forcing the ones who weren't dancing (e.g. Rohit) to dance--

They even tried with Mahi.

"Mahi bhai," went Virat and Jaddu in identical tones that sent off alarm bells in Mahi's head. "Come and dance with us."

"What? No!"

"Mahi bhai--"

Mahi was really awful at denying in cold-blood those innocent, plaintive (and deceptive) looks in Virat and Jaddu's eyes. He looked around in desperation and found a huddle of photographers.

"Give me the trophy," he ordered Rohit and Shikhar who were the first pair holding it together without fighting or playing tug of war (they made a really good pair, to be fair). "The photographers need a captain's shot."

"But you hate posing for photographs," protested Rohit.

"Give me the trophy."

Rohit and Shikhar hastily gave it up.

"He did it just to avoid dancing," complained Virat.

"He betrayed us," said Jaddu. "Let's betray him."

"Who?" asked Bhuvi and Ash, who'd just come up.

"Mahi bhai. He told us not to touch those bottles of champagne, but he betrayed our trust, so--"

Six pair of eyes turned to the row of bottles.

Afterwards, they would of course realize it had not been a wise thing to play 'how many bottles can you chug' in the dugout, at the end of which Bhuvi, who'd only managed half a bottle, swayed and nearly passed out, Ash, the victor, who'd drunk three, actually did pass out, and Rohit, Shikhar, Virat and Jaddu were all in various levels of intoxication in between.

"What are we going to tell Mahi bhai when he comes back from the captains' shots?" asked Rohit, falling to his knees, he was laughing so hard.

His laughter set all the others but Ash off, and they all howled their heads off, Jaddu and Bhuvi emptying glass after glass on Ash's head to bring him back to his senses, which again, they'd realize later, had been a bad idea, because obviously Ash caught a killing cold the next day.

Mahi found the six of them tangled together in a many armed, many legged hug, laughing and chanting, "We won, we won, we won--", telltale empty champagne bottles rolling around them.

"Honestly," he muttered, and he might have given them the tongue-lashing they deserved, but for once, he decided to go lenient on them, because after what they'd done, they could have a few hours of bliss. "Get up, you dolts. We have to get back."

"Get up and dance?" asked Virat sleepily.

"Get up and walk to the bus," said Mahi.

"Bo--" Rohit mumbled. "--oring."

"Are you calling me boring, Ro?" asked Mahi.

"Not you!" Even in that state, Rohit couldn't go that far. "Just the concept of--getting up and walking to the bus."

"Goodness," muttered Mahi, figuring he couldn't drag so many unwilling boys to the bus anyway. "Very well, do whatever you want, just this one day. From tomorrow--"

But they didn't wait to hear him, of course. Mahi's words acted as a stimulant that made them forget their intoxicated sleepiness and jump to their feet, still tangled together.

"WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!"

And that night, they danced into oblivion. 

***

Champions Trophy 2013 saw the firsts of a thousand things that were to happen every so often in the years to come.

Rohit and Shikhar putting up a 100+ opening stand, Shikhar being the aggressor, Rohit the anchor. One getting out and the other going on to put another century stand with Virat.

Middle order collapses.

Jaddu giving a dashing finish to an innings. Ash sacrificing his wicket in a run out so Jaddu could stay on.

Bhuvi's outswinger drawing first blood of the opposition in the first over. Ashwin and Jadeja choking the middle overs.

Victory.

Conquering the world.

A decade of domination.

A decade of domination by a team that was soon not to remain a team, but in Virat's words, "A bunch of friends playing together."

And the losses, too.

The heartbreaks.

But together, they could deal with anything.

And they would.

***
Victory Scenes: Gallery

A/N: Tell me the video in the header does not make you laugh like a maniac and cry at the same time 🙃