How does the ICT find themselves on the run from the Melbourne police force with a kidnapped boy and a single rucksack?
Well, it all started when the captain, already mourning a World Cup final loss, saw a video of his opening partner that pushed hi...
It was an unspoken rule never broken in the Indian cricket team: if someone was mad--like seriously mad--you just went along with what they wanted.
That day, over lunch in the pleasant felicitation ceremony organized by Cricket Australia to honour the two finalists of the just-concluded ODI World Cup, the one in a tearing rage was Rohit.
The felicitation should not have been the cause of that rage, because the addressors had not mentioned the victor a single time. It had been all about the finalists, the ones who'd put up the most beautiful display of cricket over the course of the tournament. They'd shown equal respect to Pat and Rohit, and indeed, Pat had offered Rohit a very nice (and not patronizing) smile and a hand to shake when they were descending from the podium--which Rohit refused to see point-blank.
He was shaking when he joined his team at the lunch table.
"Are you all right, Rohit bhai?" Kuldeep asked anxiously.
"No," said Rohit, and left it at that.
Maxwell had been trying to catch Virat's eye for a while now, but out of loyalty, Virat had to pretend not to notice. No one at their table, in fact, dared look around at the Aussie table, because they'd inevitably be invited over to share a drink, and that had a real possibility of making their captain burst.
The World Cup triggered Rohit like nothing else did, and his family respected that.
That was when Rohit, to avoid his family's concerned gazes, opened up Instagram on his phone and came across Shikhar's latest post.
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When he'd reached the end, he was shaking even more violently. The last time Rohit had spoken to Shikhar was when the latter had called the day after the final to check on Rohit. He'd called to check on most of them, as had Bhuvi and Jinks. He had not once mentioned how things were with him.
He never did.
"This--this woman," Rohit said, choking. "She lives in Melbourne, doesn't she? I have her address..."
The others had leaned over to look at the post. Everyone looked sick and desperately sad.
"I'll go and kill her with my own hands tonight," swore Rohit in a terrible voice. "I'll murder her and take Zoravar to his father."
"That's no more than what she deserves," said Kuldeep.
"I always knew that woman was bad news," said Ash. "Never realized she'd take it to this extent, though."
"Did any of you know?" Rahul asked quietly.
"I knew he hadn't met Zora in a while," said Virat. "I hadn't gauged how long...and I didn't know Ayesha was keeping him blocked too...poor Shikki...I wish we could could do something."
