Stay With Me

5

"Should we boycott the World Cup in India?" Shahid Afridi says yes, and he's definitely not the only one.

'The cricket board can't expect us to let our players in a country that is unable to guarantee their safety.'

'If it were the other way around, India would undoubtedly not have turned up for the tournament.'

'Yeah, but the thing is that the ICC wouldn't allow us to do this, under any circumstances.'

Shadab switched off the TV, fighting the urge to throw the remote control at the big black screen that reflected his face.

In the last few months, the media had been talking about one thing and really just one thing only.

The host of the World Cup.

Shadab had lost track of the number of interviews he had been asked for after his comeback news. And not to mention the meetings they were supposed to have with the board. Shadab groaned, thinking about it.

The player, Shadab Khan, in him thought that this all drama was exaggerated and would be happy with merely playing cricket. And it wasn’t really like they could change much, taking into account that it was already September.

But Shadab couldn't help but hope that the ICC would change their mind at the last minute, and they don't have to go to India.

Did it make sense?

Shadab hadn't set a foot in India for over 4 years, and neither did he want to, if he could avoid it.

__

"The Mister finally decided to graze us with his presence." A familiar voice called just when he stepped into the hallway.

Wow, what a warm welcome.

"Cut it out, Afridi. I'm just 5 minutes late, and that's because of the traffic." Shadab walked towards his idiotic friend who leaned with crossed arms against the wall, a grin playing at his lips.

"Yeah, yeah. We both know it was because you overslept."

Ok, maybe he overslept a few times in the past, but it didn't mean every time he was late, it was because he couldn't get out of bed. That was just a bad habit he inherited from his father. It was in his genes, so he couldn't do anything, actually. Mind you.

"It was really a traffic jam...About what you would know if you drove. Oh, I completely forgot. Mr Afridi doesn't have a license anymore."

Shaheen muttered something that sounded suspicious like, "I don't think we've a vice-captain that necessary."

Shadab ignored his friend's comments and took a closer look at his surroundings.

Everything about the place screamed patriotism, from the two-toned walls coated in white and green and giltwood frames with photos of Quaid-e-Azam, Allama Iqabal, Imran Khan, Shahid Afridi to the Pakistani flags hanging on the walls.

Shadab didn't want to be disrespectful, but he couldn't care less about the other photos, for him just the one of the cricketers were interesting. Especially that of Imran Khan.

When he was new in the team, he used to come here and look at the photos, promising himself that he would be there someday.

Swallowing the nostalgia rising within him, he told Shaheen to lead the way.

--

Everyone was already sitting on their respective seats when they both entered the room. After pleasantries were exchanged, Shadab came face to face with the person he  dreaded seeing again.

Hassan Ali.

To his astonishment, Hassan beamed at him, pulling him into a hug. Shadab hesitated for a moment before hugging the other back.

Pulling back, Hassan said "It's nice to have you back."

Shadab just nodded, not knowing what to say to that. Babar had assured him that Hassan gave up the position of the vice-captain willingly, but Shadab still felt bad about it.

After that, Babar took over his captain duties and introduced him to the newest team members and Shaheen, well, he just repeated everything Babar had already said - in case Shadab didn't hear it. Shaheen added a few extra information that were to 99 percent just some rumours.

If Shaheen had been a woman, he would have been one of the leaders of these typical gossip aunts of the town.

What a relief for the society that he in fact, wasn't a woman.

You could say that the future of Pakistani cricket was in good hands. All of the new guys seemed cool, especially Naseem. He was a laid-back, kind guy. Shadab was sure they both could become good friends.

--

For all how much Shaheen complained about a certain Indian player who was too loquacious, he himself never shut his mouth close.

The meeting had been gone for no longer than 15 minutes, and while Shadab was trying to pay attention to the discussion happening around them, Shaheen kept nudging his shoulder every few minutes to point at a random player and tell him something about them.

Shadab had found out a long time ago that cricketers were incapable of picking up social clues, but the the way Misbah's nostrils flared, glaring at them throughout his speech, or the way Babar signalled with his eyes at Shaheen to keep quite or the way Shadab mouthed at him to shut up - these were signs you couldn't miss, unless you were blind - or dumb, in his teammates case.

'Do you ever look at Misbah and think he might be a terrorist? He always looks at me like he's just about to beat the shit out of me?'

Or maybe he noticed the signs, but just didn't care.

"Is there something you both want to share with us? Should we maybe postpone the meeting so you can talk to Mr. Khan?" One of the board members decided to ask.

"Apologies for the interruption, Mr. Chairman," Shaheen replied, with a huge smile."No need for that, though. Shadab and I were just discussing... traffic."

A few chuckles erupted around the room. Shadab forced a laugh out of his throat, a hint of red creeping up his neck.

Could you die out of embarrassment?

When they were in India, Shadab would make sure that Shaheen didn't get the flight back.  Shaheen was a good friend, but he was an infuriating person.

Misbah didn't find the interaction as amusing as most of his players as he shuffled through some papers in front of him, cleared his throat, and pointed at the elephant in the room.

The World Cup.

__

Shadab walked with a big enlightenment out of the room:

No matter what - even if he lay down on the floor here and refused to stand up or locked himself in his room - he would still be dragged to India. And unlike some of his teammates, Shadab hung a lot on his dignity.

Better pack the bags.

--

♡ Hayat