MS Dhoni and the useless one shots I like to come up with

02/04/11- Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man

Happy New Year. Make sure you actually follow the resolutions this time lol. I have pretty big ones for this year for one. Last couple of years I have been like a raft lost in the ocean to say the least. Going with the flow didn't really work out. So hopefully, I will change it this year.

This pretty long chapter actually, was one of the toughest things I have ever written. I was trying to get as close as I could to narrating a Mahi POV + a couple more on the best day of my life as a cricket fan. I have been obsessing over this for days and have scrapped so much of it so many times, it is the reason I ended up with a block in the last couple of weeks.

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Mahi walked onto the field for the toss, a smile as usual fixed on his face. He could feel that the team's nerves were on the edge, there were anxieties buried beneath each and everyone's skins. Which was all the more reason for him to be as relaxed as he could be. He was sure if he even began thinking about their history at ICC events, their desired destination, and the unlikelihood of Pajji getting a fairytale farewell, he would succumb to anxiety too. So he kept his mind carefully blank, weeding out any untoward thoughts. This was really the only job he wasn't messing up so far, form having gone to hell right after the first match. And he was determined not to mess it up.

So he deliberately poked Ash, their residential overthinker, right where he was ticklish and mussed up Virat's hair to annoy them out of their thoughts, and walked out into the field, sharing a knowing smile with his counterpart. Only one of them was leaving the field unscathed. It was not just a match, it was a match unlike the hundreds he had played. It was a World Cup final, his Pajji's last. Things might change if they lost, it was possible that he as the captain had more to lose than anyone else. But in all honesty, personal form aside, he was happy with his team. They had had a stumbling start but had fought their way back with such ferocity, loss wouldn't change how strong these guys were. It had been a great journey, regardless of whether they lost or won, he was proud of his team. It was easy to be at peace with such pride in his heart.

They lost the toss, Sangakkara chose to bat and Mahi let himself get absorbed in the essence of the game, breathed in its breath and listened to its pulse. It was a match like no other perhaps but in the moment it was just another match whose veins whispered a story to him. And he obliged, sharing its stories with Zak if he needed it, with his spinners if they misheard it. It was not just any match, it deserved its reverance. But Mahi had always treated each match with the same reverance, absorbing each essence, breathing each breath and listening to each pulse. Why should this be any different?

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MS had come back from the toss, a pleasant expression still on his face when Zak finally got out of the shower. Considering that he had gone for it when MS had left to take a look at the pitch, it was a considerably long time and he could see Ashu start cribbing in anxiety as soon as he got out. Zak ignored him and turned to his captain.

"Won the toss?" he asked hopefully. The Wankhede was a batting beauty and with their line up, it would be a paradise.

"Nope,".

Zak sighed, " I swear you should hire a mascot for tosses, how do you lose so many?"

MS snorted, "I am exceptionally lucky that way. Sree is playing today by the way, changed my decision,".

If he was a Yuvraj Singh he would have exclaimed loudly and ask the man if he had lost his marbles. But since he wasn't and he was also too used to MS and his eccentricity all he said was, "What? But Ash? The pitch could favor him,"