1983-Facts and Fiction

Blackmailable

A/N: Extremely unfortunately, I can't write in any language but English and moreover I don't know a word of Punjabi. But I have to write on this team because it's clogging my system and since I am writing, why not post it (:

If you're reading this, please translate the English to Hindi/Punjabi (: (:

Just thought I'd add a list of the names and nicknames to avoid confusion.

Captain Kapil Dev (Kaps/Kapsie)

Vice-captain Mohinder Amarnath (Jimmy)

Opener Krisnamachari Srikkanth (Cheeka)

Batsman Yashpal Sharma (Yash)

Pacer Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Ballu)

Spinner Kirti Azad

Reserve all-rounder Sunil Valson (Vally)

Team manager PR Man Singh

Former India captain Lala Amarnath (Lala ji, Jimmy's father)

***

Yashpal: Big brother?

Jimmy: Hm?

Yashpal: Toh kya bole kal Lala ji?

Jimmy: Tu batting kar na Yash

***

"Want free dinner, Kapsie?" Cheeka announced his presence in the captain's room grandly.

"Sure, why not?" said Kapil, grinning and switching off the TV playing a bloody attack of the WI pacers on the batsmen of Australia. "You coming too, Jimmy pa?"

"Yeah," said Jimmy. "This family Cheeka has hunted down is Madrasi. Do you like south Indian food?" he asked Kapil, who shook his head. "But homemade food has got to be better than the stuff we get at the hotel."

Kapil agreed wholeheartedly. Cheeka went off into a rant about how stupid Punjabi people were so addicted to ghee and butter and how they had too poor a taste to admire the cuisine of Madras.

Since you didn't try to control Cheeka, you just let him be, Jimmy and Kapil listened in silence except nods and shakes of their heads and wiggling of their eyebrows at each other which conveyed stuff like:

'Where are we going?'

'I have no idea.'

'Tell Cheeka to shut up, Jimmy pa.'

'No, Kapsie, that's your job.'

'You're the senior.'

'You're the captain.'

The Madrasi family, it turned out, were hell bent in acquiring Cheeka into the family. The most sensible way?

Marry the daughter, Kalyani, who also happened to be a great cook, to him.

Cheeka and Kalyani's parents were jabbering in Tamil, not a word of which his companions understood.

Kapil raised his eyebrows at Jimmy.

'The dosa is good.'

Jimmy nodded back.

'Yes, shocking.'

They stuffed a stunning number of dosas when the father dropped the bombshell. Technically the mother must have dropped the bombshell on Cheeka in Tamil, because he choked on sambar.