A Champion is made of Heart (ON HOLD)

The Last Gasp

The Last Gasp

The score stood at 129/7

It was not enough; of course it was not enough. The player in MS Dhoni quivered in his shoes the slightest bit, the batsman lamented his dismissal at a crucial juncture and yet, the Captain in him held strong. Not that he had an option. He had to hold strong. He was the senior most player in his group.

Age wise, at least.

If he showed signs of fear, then his Team would go down before fighting. And that is something he would never condone; nor of himself and, certainly not for his Team. MS reached out for a glass of water but placed it back down as his hand shook, the liquid sloshing out.

"Bloody hell. Get yourself together, Mahi. Bloody get your nerves in order." He mumbled to himself, ambling over to one of the corners and resting for a moment. Soon he would need to talk to the Team, give his two bits and, more importantly, say something to help keep their morales and hopes high.

MS could feel a headache coming on and he pressed his fingers against his temples. The rainy weather was not helping with the general feeling of malaise stealing over him and he desperately wished for some silence. But that was one thing which was hard earned when the average age of the Team was around 25 and he himself was only 31.

But then again, the noise meant that the mood of the camp was not dragged down and under the circumstances, this was the best that MS could hope for.

"Stupid!" MS mumbled again and lightly punched the side of his head; getting out for a duck at the eve of such a crucial match was setting his teeth to gnash. The boys had given their best and beyond throughout the tournament and the day they needed their Captain to step up, MS had failed quite spectacularly.

"Mahi?"

MS started and looked up to find Suresh staring worriedly at him. "What? Anything wrong?"

Suresh shook his head. "No. Not really. But you are sitting here and brooding; the boys are getting slightly concerned."

"Brooding?" MS frowned. "I am not brooding."

"You sure?" Suresh lifted his eyebrows suggestively and MS reached out and smacked his friend at the side of his leg. "Arreh, don't worry, Mahiya. We did not come so far just to lose the finals."

'And England did?' MS desperately wanted to snark but it was so not the time and Sonu deserved it the least; he managed a weird grin and a half-aborted try at a nod.

"Wow, you are in some headspace, aren't you?" Suresh had his head titled at one end and his eyes held understanding.

"What?"

"You did not react to me calling you Mahiya."

Now that he thought about it; "CT finals and all," he murmured the reason at hand, which did not make too much sense and yet, it was all he had at the moment.

"Eat something. And drink up some water."

"That one thing we have aplenty today; just have to look up and open our mouths." MS looked over of the glass windows towards the stadium, where a slight smattering of rains had graced the event yet again.

Sonu's lips quivered and only barely did he hold back his chuckles but one look from his Captain and all bets were off. They stared at each other, grinned and giggled; yes, two of India' s most senior souls in the Team, giggled.

"So you will try to gulp in rain water?" Sonu warily asked.

"It would be fun." MS shrugged. "Just like trying to catch snow on our tongue tips."