Cricket Chronicles

Hero (Ruturaj-Jaddu)

2020.

It was that night, the night after CSK's that match against SRH, by now every MSDian would know which match I'm talking about.

Ravindra Jadeja was returning to the CSK team hotel and was about to climb a pipe to reach his room, when he saw figure sitting in their own room's balcony, hysterically weeping and shaking all the while tightly clutching something in his hands. Judging by the room's location, it should be one of the juniors. Upon closely observing for a few moments, he deduced the person to be Ruturaj and the thing in his hands seemed like a piece of cloth. Jaddu had a very precise idea of what that cloth was and why Ruturaj was crying. He mentally thanked the street lights, courtesy of which he was able to notice the sobbing youngster and also Russ, for assigning him that particular room.

He climbed the pipe and plopped into Rutu's balcony, which was below his own. Ruturaj was too busy in his own world to notice notice, but it wasn't true vice versa. Ruturaj was a crying mess, eyes red and puffy, and Jaddu's idea about that cloth had indeed hit the bull's eye.

It was yellow and read:
7
Dhoni

Yes, it was their Mahi bhai's CSK jersey, which Ruturaj had been clutching onto and it wasn't tough to understand why. Ravindra Jadeja took a deep breath to pull the reins of the wayward thoughts soaring through his mind. He himself needed to be totally composed first to comfort the youngster in front of him.

"Rutu", called Jaddu softly, unlike himself, but to no avail. So he simply slung an arm around the boy and pulled him closer to himself. Ruturaj jerked up at the unexpected touch, but upon seeing who it was, rested his head on the man's shoulder and continued sobbing.

"When did you come, and more importantly how, because the door is locked", asked a flabbergasted Ruturaj.

"Just now, I climbed up this pipe", replied Jaddu pointing towards the pipe in a tone that suggested that it was the most normal thing in this world, and which was in case of Sir Ravindra Jadeja.

"Just now,

"Wh-y d-did th-th-this hap-pp-en?', asked Ruturaj in a broken voice. He didn't bother explaining what 'this' was, because he knew that Jaddu knew, heck, everyone knew, he thought.

"The heat was intense Rutu, it's okay to get cramps, it's a part and parcel of the game."

"But he's Mahi bhai", said Ruturaj, as if that explained everything, and to Jaddu, it did.

"Exactly, he's Mahi bhai, not some Indian action movie hero who can impossibility overcome anything and everything.

"But he is our hero, he is supposed to be above all these things and effortlessly play his shots, like he used to do", Ruturaj mumbled the last party softly and heavy with emotion and reminiscence.

"Ofcourse he's our hero. Winning or losing doesn't make a hero, you know, but the courage and determination to keep on trying until the very end most certainly does, and that's what Mahi bhai did today. He battled the heat and the cramps, the pressure to win the game and to show the world that all was not over yet for CSK. He might not have won, but gave all he could, tried his best, like a real hero. It's not possible to win everytime, unless you are Chhota Bheem".

The last phrase drew a faint smile from Ruturaj, but it soon disappeared. "Yeah, but still....", he trailed off, unable to find the appropriate words.

"I know what you mean Rutu, all of us do", and by us, Jadeja meant Mahi bhai's younger brothers and fans who had spent a major part of their lives idolising Mahi bhai and watching him win the game from impossible situations. It was a habit, a habit which was now drastically reducing to a seldom occurrence. Another seldom occurrence was their hopes crashing crashing down when Mahi bhai was batting, which was now evolving into a habit. And the hopes would never cease to exist, because Mahi bhai was their hero.

"Hero worship is a cruel thing. We saw Mahi bhai batting for the first time, we started liking the way he went about this job, his explosive batting, sheer tactic, lightning fast wicketkeeping, calm demeanor on and off the field,we cheered and rooted for him, celebrated and smiled for his every achievement. And then he gradually became our hero, who could overcome anything and everything. Now when he has hung his boots in international cricket and those performances have drastically reduced, we can't help but feel pained and that is perfectly alright 'cause love is never rational. But we have to try to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer the MS Dhoni that he used to be. He is in the twilight of his IPL career and no longer has age on his side. Yes, he does have great fitness levels but age has its own way of showing itself. Main samajh sakta hoon ki ye kehna jitna aasan hai karna usse kai zyada mushkil, aakhir Mahi bhai mere bhi hero hain, par dil pe patthar rakhke hi sahi, humein koshish karne padegi", Jaddu finally unclenched his fists as he ended his monologue, they'd been in that position for a while, giving him the strength to speak the undeniable.

Ruturaj nodded, Jaddu's words slowly sinking in, and suddenly something struck him, "Why were you not in your room at this time of the night, and more importantly, where were you?

Now when he properly looked at him, it seemed that Jaddu bhai had been crying too, and was making a lot of effort to not cry. It shook him to see the ever strong Rajput warrior cry, and then he knew that he had the stupidest question possible in that circumstance.

"I was out on a walk, trying to make peace with things", for once Jaddu did not try to hide his emotions, which was a very rare occurrence. "Lying would be of no use", thought he, because nobody was unfamiliar with his love and care for Mahi bhai. He was his hero too, and had been by his side since he debuted for India. ,"But I'm okay now", he added quickly.

"No, you clearly not, neither am I, but you're right, we've got to try, together, otherwise it will hurt Mahi bhai a lot to see us like this, he can easily see through all of us, no matter how much ever and however nicely we act", Ruturaj was a lot more stable now, and his usual calmness and maturity was returning back, and Jaddu was more than pleased to notice the change. He gave a slight nod and smiled at Rutu, who smiled back.

An unspoken resolution was made, "They had to try, for themselves, for their team, and most importantly, for their Mahi bhai, their hero."