SERENDIPITY: A DEVDUTT PADIKKAL FANFICTION.

9. Match Day

2nd April,2022
Wankhede Stadium

Today was RCB'S first match of the season with Kolkata Knight Riders. This was RCB's first season without Virat Kohli as their captain and Faf Du Plessis had replaced him.

Dev and Faf were the opening pair. The atmosphere in the dressing room was filled with mixed emotions like nerves,anxiety,confidence and preparedness.

Dev was sitting with his batting gear on. Meera wished luck to everyone and then went to Dev.

"All the best Bhaiyyaji!"
"Thankyou Behenji!"
"I'm not a Behenji,okay!"
"Even I'm not a Bhaiyyaji."
"Okay jokes apart, you know that I believe in you right? You'll kill it!"
"Thank you for that faith Meera. Aur ha,agar mujhe laga na field pe to tum hi aana"
"Ae bavlat, shubh shubh bolo"
"I'm not bavlat,you are"
"Okay fine,now go!"

Meera was sitting in the dugout with anticipation and excitement. She could feel cameras on her but she tried not to be self conscious.

The first over was given to Umesh Yadav with 5 dot balls and 1 single from that over.
The match proceeded at a good pace with RCB 55/0 until Faf was clean bowled by Pat Cummins.

In came Virat Kohli and they both built a partnership of 60 runs.
Dev scored a blistering half century.
Yeh to uska roj ka hai boys and gurls.

It was the 12th over when Umesh Yadav bowled a fulltoss and Devdutt hit it for a six to directly go and land in Shreyas's hands.
Dev looked disappointed.

RCB won the match and Meera truly enjoyed her stadium experience. Thrilling in all aspects!

The scene in the dressing room was a party for real. Devdutt sat there laughing as Yuzi and Josh Hazlewood danced to Ishq Tera Tadpaawe.

"Nice innings Dev!" Meera congratulated Dev.
"Thank you Mrs Malfoy!"
"I know you wanted to last till the end but fir bhi your contribution was valuable, so next time, I don't want to see you disappointed."
Dev nodded his head.

At the hotel, a cake smash took place.
Everyone smashed cake on Devdutt's and Virat's face. Dev took a piece of cake and searched for Meera but couldn't find her.

After he was done showering, he decided to check on Meera and knocked on her door.
There appeared Meera in a kurta salwar and her hair in a braid.

He didn't realize he was staring until Meera clicked her fingers infront of his face.
Getting out of his trance,he asked her

"Kaha thi tum? I was searching for you down there but you weren't there."
"Nothing much, I just didn't like what was going on there so mein chali aayi."
"Matlab?!" Dev asked surprised.

"The cake smash!! It's utter nonsense and a horrible waste of money and food! I hate cake smashes since childhood. Just because rich people can afford good food doesn't mean they waste it on someone's face! Isse achha har win ke baad garibo me khana bato, punya milega(you'll be blessed)."
"You'll think of me as a typical socialist and spoilsport but you cannot deny that India is a poverty struck country! Idhar log bhooke pet sote hai aur hum khana logo ke chehre ko khila rahe hai,pure nonsense!" She added.

Meera was totally in her element and ranting about what she read and the facts and statistics. Devdutt had never thought about cake smash from this point of view.

"Sahi hai yaar,ek to wo cake smash se poora chehra aur baal kharab ho jaate hai aur upar se cake kisi ko khane nahi milta." Dev agreed.
"See! Itna skincare aur haircare ka kya fayda jab chehra aur baal polysacchrides mein dubana hai."
"Oh wait,poly-"
"I know what polysacchrides are! Sugars." Dev answered.

"Are waah tum to hoshiyar nikle!" Meera joked.
"Sawal hai kya, I got 96% in my SSC boards." Dev stated proudly.
"What! You were a padhaku(studious person)? Even I got 96.40% in my tenth."
"Not exactly a padhaku, I just balanced cricket and academics really well."
"And I don't think you're a spoilsport. You're just stating facts and it makes me wonder as to why cakes smash is a tradition." Dev added.
"Hai na,I'd try and convince Soumyadeep Sir to stop this asap."

"And what if I wasn't there for celebration, we can always celebrate now." Meera stated excitedly.

She heard a knock on the door and hotel staff appeared with a chocolate pudding. She closed the door bringing the plate with her.

"I'd ordered this for me but we can always share na."
"Cheers to RCB and cheers to Dev!"
"And cheers to Meera for her first stadium experience." Dev joined her.

_________________________________________

I always try and avoid the mention of the word 'waiter' so it's more appropriate to address them as hotel staff.
Also, I've always despised cake smashes.
I hate it when IPL teams upload celebration videos with horrible cake smashes.
Preparing a cake is a tedious task and then just wasting it on someone's face is like disrespecting the baker's efforts.
I'd like to urge everyone that whenever you see poor people,always give them food and not money because it can be used for wrong causes.
And for all the non marathi people, Bavlat means crazy or pagal.
Pls comment and vote!
The next chapter is my personal favorite, I've enjoyed writing it so stay tuned.