Bade Sapne

◇ Part 3 ◇

Shubman's POV

The innings break was rather uneventful. That was, until Ishan walked in.

After the first innings had ended, our team headed back inside, and my mind began to drift off to the events of the match. I was analysing the team's fielding performance in my head, making plans for the next match.

My forward-thinking nature. My coaches had praised me for it. They'd told me I would be a successful captain because of it, quickly learning from my mistakes, and acting on them.

Our head coach walked in and whispered to me to make a speech. I frantically shook my head no, but he didn't listen.

"Suno team!" he said, clapping his hands. "The Captain."

The team all stopped what they were doing, and the dressing room went silent. Now this was awkward...

I looked at their faces. Most, I recognised. Most of them had been with us last season. I can do this. I know pretty much everyone here.

"Hi... so, uhm... good work on the field today everyone. Just a couple of points I want to brush up on for the next match..."

I continued for some time, before realising this came naturally to me. I could actually speak to my team without hesitation. I just hope I wasn't too harsh on anyone.

This season, I wasn't going to open. I was going to give that chance to someone else. I would be coming in third. After a few quick words of support to the openers, I sat down, wondering if I would get a chance to play or not. I wouldn't mind if I didn't. In fact, it would be better if I didn't have to. I was certain that our openers would do a great job.

The dressing room was now enveloped in a buzz of noise, with all my teammates chattering away. They slowly started to filter out, one by one, out into the canteen, but a couple stayed in the dressing room, having conversations with our coaches, some asking how to improve their fielding and bowling performances, and others asking about the upcoming batting innings. One of our coaches came up to me, and we started to talk about the game plan for the batting sector of the match, and how I needed to either work on my ground shots, or put more power into my smashes.

While I was working this out, the door opened, and I didn't turn to look, because I thought it was just someone who'd left something in the changing room, but the room went silent, making me wonder whatever the matter was. I turned on my heel to see Ishan charging into the changing room with his bright blue jersey, standing out from the deep blue shirts we had on. He had his phone in his hand, and a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Kya hua, itna smile karne keliye?" I asked him, a grin growing on my face as well.

"Aaja idhar, dekho, dekho!" He exclaimed, beckoning me towards him.

I jogged towards him. The chatter in the changing room had resumed again. He unlocked his phone, and scrolled to his gallery. I looked over his shoulder, wondering what he wanted to show me.

"Urgh, mujhe nahi mil raha hai, yaar!" He said, in desperation.

"Kya dikhaana chaahata tha tu?" I questioned.

"Ek ladki ko dekha meine. Bohot cute thi voh, yaar. Kahan hain? Rukho, mujhe dekhna pade ga."

He spent a good two minutes finding the picture. I chuckled at him. He was older than me, but for some reason I felt like I was his older brother. It was probably the height difference- and you didn't hear that from me, by the way.

"Oh, mil gaya."

I leant towards his phone to see the photo. I was met with a picture of a really beautiful girl- long, black hair, the most adorable smile, and captivating chestnut coloured eyes. It took me a couple of seconds to realise that it was the girl who had taken a selfie with the ball. The cute one.