1983-Facts and Fiction

Extenuating circumstances: Part I

"Kisiko boliyo mat ki mai ro raha tha."

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In which Kapil discovers the one thing he can never have the heart to blackmail Jimmy about

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India's tour of Pakistan, October, 1978, Faisalabad, Kapil Dev's debut

Kapil was shaken out of his debut-eve jitters with a knock at the door and a soft, "Um—Kaps?"

"Evening, Jimmy pa," he said.

"Won't you, er, come for dinner?" asked Jimmy.

Kapil, who was feeling like he'd swallowed a slippery eel from the way his insides were squirming, shook his head.

Jimmy smiled like he knew exactly how was feeling.

"Normally I wouldn't insist, but you do need your strength for tomorrow, you know," he said. "Fast bowler and all."

It was hard to say no to someone who spoke so nicely and who so genuinely had your best interests at heart.

Kapil found himself giving in and going down to dinner with Jimmy pa—who he wasn't sure if he regarded as Mohinder Amarnath, one of the heroes of India's historic Port of Spain victory two years ago, or as Jimmy Amarnath, his teammate and senior, or as Jimmy pa, an elder brother and guardian figure.

***

Flashback, 1976—2 years ago... [Disclaimer: True incident]

"There—" whispered Kapil, pointing violently at a direction where no policeman was patrolling.

"Go on, go on, go on!" shrieked Minnu, his childhood best friend and partner-in-crime.

"Don't shout—" hissed Kapil as the two of them ran stealthily towards the unmanned entrance of the local stadium, where Delhi had come to play Haryana that day, of which they did not have tickets but were desperate to watch.

"Nearly there...nearly there..." Minnu went on with his running commentary—they'd almost crossed into the stadium now—

"Hello there, boys!" barked a voice behind them. "Sneaking in without tickets, are you?"

Minnu cursed under his breath. "Busted."

The policeman marched forward and grabbed both of them by their shirts, pushing them away from the entrance. Minnu obliged, but Kapil felt an unearthly energy possessing him.

Mohinder Amarnath, the anchor of India's 400+ chase in the fourth innings in Port of Spain, was part of the Delhi team, as was Madan Lal, who had hit the winning run. Earlier in the same Test match, their spells in tandem were what had had Kapil hooked to the radio—he might be an aspiring fast bowler, special emphasis on fast, but his bowling idols were the two medium pacers all the same—and he was not going to let a chance of seeing them play go by, he was not.

Kapil shook off the policeman's grasp and bolted for the stadium, sprinting with all his might.

"Kaps!" yelled Minnu, voice laced with horror and admiration.

A tremendous blow of a stick caught him on the shoulder at some point, but Kapil did not care—

He was inside the stadium.

He was going to get a whole day to watch Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal.

***

Jimmy kept transferring food over to Kapil's plate, since the latter was too busy thinking of his security breach two years ago to watch the bowling of this man who was now fussing over him like his mother did.