Ro's Boys

Chapter 1

"Good morning! Oh, hi. Hello, morning sir. Hello", Jasprit Bumrah greeted everyone he met, while on his way to his daily training. He smiled, closing his eyes, taking in the familiar scent of grass and feeling the morning sun on his face, in all its blazing glory.  

"Morning Boom!", called our round the clock energetic Virat, who had just completed his rounds and was drinking water. 

Jasprit ran up to him, entering into the field of craziness, a cacophony of voices immediately reaching his ears, and the boy suddenly felt ready to face the day as he spotted all the blue figures around him practicing hard. He stopped near Virat, who thumped his shoulder and asked, "Slept good?"    

Jasprit grinned and nodded, "Brilliant!"

"Ready for practice, Jassu baby?" Virat teased, because Jasprit's face flushed adorably whenever he was called that. Virat had overheard Jasprit's mother calling him that, over the phone, and since then the new nickname became as famous as Jasprit himself.     

"What Virat bhai, why do you keep calling me with that name?" Jasprit frowned. 

"Because he has a penchant to give stupid nicknames that people hate and then calling them loud in public", Rahul said, suddenly appearing from nowhere. "If you say no, that only makes him worse."

Virat guffawed, "That is true, Rahuliya. Jas, you should actually learn the way Rahuliya has given up now." Rahul scowled, while Jasprit shook his head. 

"AHOY THERE! CITIZENS OF THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY. GOOD MORNING!" yelled a voice, as the three turned around to find Hardik Pandya, coming towards them, waving his hands wildly in the air, bringing an air of cheerfulness, along with him. 

Virat chuckled, "He can't say good morning plainly, can he?"

"He won't be our Harry then", sighed Rahul. "How do you bear him in your room, Jas?"

"I have been asking myself the same question, Rahul", Jasprit smiled. "But I can't bear not having this monkey in my room too."

Virat put an affectionate arm around Hardik and said, "Well, good morning to the most handsome citizen of this beautiful country." 

Hardik grinned toothily, "Thanks Virat. Only you admit the truth." He turned to Rahul and Jasprit and said, "Jas, did you by any chance, spot my second black shoe in our room?"

Jasprit groaned, "No Harry, I did not spot your second black show and for goodness sake, I do not, for the life of me, get how you misplace a single shoe?"

"I- ", Hardik stopped suddenly, spun around in a circle and then exclaimed, "Where's Ro?"

At Rohit's mention, Jasprit too started looking here and there and frowned when he too noticed Rohit's absence. Jasprit, was the first kid the new Captain Rohit Sharma had taken under his wings, and his first kid since then. Hardik, was a close second, and Jasprit had a kind enough heart to share his brother with a young Hardik and thus, since then they were known as Rohit's first kids. 

"Where's bhaiya, Vi bhai?" Jasprit asked. 

Answering their question, Virat said, "He is gone out with Rishabh."

Jasprit was confused. "Now? Why?"

Virat replied, "Rishabh needed to buy a new pair of sneakers or something, I guess. Since Ro is a sneaker expert here, Spidey asked Ro to accompany him and he said yes, so now they've gone."  

It was now Hardik's turn to frown, "Rohit never gave me any sneaker advices when I asked him to, and neither did he ever come with me to buy sneakers, and neither did he ever help me find my lost shoe." 

Jasprit smacked his head from behind, which instantly stopped his wailing and asked Virat, trying to mask the jealousy he felt when he heard that Rohit had gone with Rishu, without meeting them first, "When will they come back?"

Virat looked at Jasprit closely, figuring out instantly what Jasprit was trying to hide. "Jassi, they will come- Oh! Look, they are there, right behind you."

And sure they were, Rohit with a bag in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, and Rishabh grinning brightly at them. Jasprit could not help but chuckle at the sight, and Hardik whispered to him, "Rishu really looks like Ro's younger version, doesn't he?"  

Jasprit nodded, and the uneasy feeling  was back in his chest. It was the same feeling he had got, when he had seen the youngsters around Rohit during the England test series, and Rohit indulging their wishes with a smile

'Could they be ever called Rohit's younger version as well?' Jassi thought, as he spotted the exasperated, yet fond look on Rohit's face, whose receivers were usually them both. 

And then a horrible question occurred to him, did Rohit bhaiya replace them, with the new kids he loved so much, who loved him so much too?