when 77 met 32 [ishman ff] [shubish]

2026

Third person's POV:

It had been 5 months since they last heard from Suhani. There was no news of her or any other letter from her in their name. She had disappeared again, for longer this time. The thing with the sacking issue was the same as it was before. They were all slowly losing their patience. "There is no damn progress," Shubman said while in the team meeting.

"There is progress though." Mayank suddenly said, making them all look at him. "what progress?" Rishabh asked out of curiosity. "Kartik is not as he was before; there are some other concerns for him to look into now. Something is going on in the management; we just don't know about it yet." He said, looking at Rishabh.

"Something going on? As in?" Rohit asked, confused. "I don't know, but sacking Rishabh or getting his revenge is the least of his concerns now." They had all noticed that something was going on because of the atmosphere during the team meetings and the official parties. Shubman was the only one with no clue because he didn't have any usual contact with the management.

"Now that I think about it... Ishan had called yesterday." Shubman said, knitting his brows. "What did he say?" Virat asked. "He said that his niece was sick and he wanted to go meet her. Every time he left his house in these 2 years, he would always get this threatening call from Kartik, but yesterday, he didn't. He didn't get any calls." Shubman completed, making everyone think about the matter more.

A month after that conversation, there was news flaring the social media. There was a new head shareholder. Kartik and his father were sacked from the position and authority of it all by this new head shareholder. Everyone was confused because there was no ceremony introducing them or any news about who they might be. Kartik and his father were no longer a part of the association and chair members.

Shubman looked like the happiest he had been in years. He had heard the news from Rishabh, and since then he had been fleeting all over the place. The other members of the team associated this happiness with that one incident of Ishan, but none of them knew the whole truth.

They had all asked Ishan to come to meet all of the members now that there was no threat from Kartik. Ishan, on the other hand, was still skeptical about it all. "What if this is all some act of bigger gameplay? I cannot risk coming there and meeting everyone under the watching eyes of the public." He had said.

Shubman had tried his best to make Ishan realize that this was all over and that he could come to meet them, but it was all in vain. Shubman's initial happiness had worn off, giving way to sadness and hurt again. He realized that Ishan was hurt so deeply that his initial nature of being carefree and too trusting had not been the same anymore. It hurt Shubman to think about it. Think about how this course of events might permanently alter his Ishan. the Ishan that he was a bit too familiar with.

In July there had been a bilateral series coming up, and Shubman was appointed as the captain for the T20 series. He had practiced hard for this one, and the first day of the match had finally arrived. The stadium was full of happy cheering and laughter. All of the people had their eyes fixed on the screen; the toss had just happened.

India had won the toss, and the openers, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, had arrived on the ground, preparing for the first innings of the match to start. While the camera was usually on the players this entire time, it suddenly panned towards the audience. The person on the screen now had brought about a wave of cheers through them all.

Shubman, still busy with the workout, heard the commotion too. He had turned his head towards the screen to see what had interested the audience so much when his eyes widened. It was Ishan. The person on the screen was Ishan, in an Indian team jersey. This was the first public appearance of Ishan after a gap of two years, and the people were going mad out of happiness.

Shubman looked frozen. His eyes stuck on the screen. The workout is long forgotten. He had no spacial awareness at the moment, so much so that Yashasvi, who was practicing the batting stance, almost hit Shubman on the head with the bat. Afraid that Shubman had gotten sick somehow, he came towards him and said, "Shubman, bhai tu thik hai?" He tried calling him, but it was all fruitless.

Having received no response, his eyes instinctively followed Shubman's eyes. When he saw the screen and Ishan all over it with his bright smile on full display, Yashasvi was shocked. He turned his head at the speed of light towards the audience in hopes of spotting Ishan there. He smiled brightly at him when he found him.

Yashasvi knew the importance of Ishan's arrival here; he knew that it wouldn't have been an easy decision at all, and he was just happy to have witnessed it all. When he looked towards the stands, he saw that the other players were looking at Ishan too, wearing a smile similar to his own. The game started soon, and both Shubman and Yashasvi had taken their respective positions.

In the stands, Shahneel was smiling brightly, looking at his brother on the field. Ishan came here after Shaheel constantly nagged. Her final blow was a phone call to Ishan by her parents. They asked Ishan to go watch the upcoming match with them, and Ishan being the sweetheart that he was couldn't deny them. So, here he was sitting in the stadium with Shubman's family—his face on full display for the world to see.

"These people, they all love you so much," Shahneel commented, looking at the crowd. Ishan just smiled at that. Shubman, on the other hand, was just staring right at Ishan with a serene smile on his face. The screen suddenly showed Shubman's face, standing there ready to play, looking at Ishan, smiling.

Shahneel looked too happy to just be here. Ishan, on the other hand, had no idea how to deal with all of this attention. The game started soon. Shubman played too well. There were too many sixes and fours all batted in the same direction while Shubman was on the striker's end. Every time he managed to pull a six or a four, the screen would display Ishan and his happy smile. It all felt too much like a movie.

Shubman was close to scoring a century, and the stadium was silent. The air was dire. He was now just a six away from his century. 'Please play slowly.' Ishan prayed, looking tense. Shubman, as if on cue, looked at Ishan right at that moment and smiled. Then he fixed his helmet and got ready to strike.

Ishan watched as most of Shubman's sixes were hit in his direction, causing the opposition team's fielders to gather there in anticipation. Despite Ishan's prayers, Shubman once again aimed for the same spot. As the ball flew towards him, the fielders prepared for a catch, but it turned out to be a "SIX. And Shubman Gill completes his century." The stadium erupted in cheers, but Ishan was left speechless as the ball landed in his hands. It was a catch.

He looked at the ball, then he looked at Shubman, just to see him raising his bat in his direction. He turned around, trying to figure out what was going on. Shubman was raising his bat in his direction, when he realized the camera was panning at him again, and Shubman was looking right into his eyes. Smiling, he went towards the stump mic and an echo of "ishaaaannnnn." Could be heard in the stadium.

After scoring a century, Shubman bowed, as he always did, but this time he directed his bow towards Ishan. Ishan was taken aback and felt his heart skip a beat. Still holding the ball, he was mesmerized and simply smiled at Shubman without knowing why.

After India won the match, Ishan was brought over to the team. It was then that he noticed everyone seemed very happy to have him there, and he realized he had been looking for Shubman since he had arrived. Ishan found Shubman, who smiled at him and hugged him, creating a moment Ishan hoped would last forever.

When they reached back at the hotel, bouquets were waiting for them all, with a letter inside.