Hardik Pandya Imagines✔

Family

There was nothing worse than being trapped sitting between two ultra-competitive people during a game especially when those two ultra-competitive people just so happened to be professional cricketers and brothers.

Hardik was to my right, wearing reading glasses he didn't even need to be wearing. I guess he was trying to look smart and stylish because he had a scarf wrapped around his neck as well. Krunal sat to my left somewhat disguised behind sunglasses and his normal clothes . Maybe it was because the match was so early in the morning that there weren't that many people sitting in the small stands but I was glad there weren't many parents and family there. The last thing I wanted was a mob of fans approaching us and disturbing us watching my son play.

Ishaan was waiting for the bowler to charge at him so that he could hit the ball. he was dressed in a red kit and it really looked good on him.

Though our son was still young, this was considered to be a 'big' match by Hardik 's standards which meant he was already on the edge of his seat even just a few minutes into play. He had kept me up all night last night as he got Ishaan to join us in our bed so he could talk tactics and techniques with him. It seemed every time I rolled over and thought the two boys were going to sleep, he just found more advice to give him.

I wanted my son to be into sports. I understood the power it had and how it developed someone off of the pitch as well in terms of learning how to become a leader and other desirable characteristics but did I care if his team won this match? Not really.

I wasn't the most competitive person in the world. The closest I got to sport was partaking in a tennis tournament in my teens one summer during a camp. Needless to say, I lost but hey I got a pretty nice consolation trophy. It was clear my husband was the competitive one and I let him be that, only stopping him when I felt he was going a little too far with our young son.

It wasn't like he was pushing cricket on him. Ishu loved cricket more than anything. It was all he seemed to think about doing when he got home from school but I also wanted to make sure he realized that this was meant to be a fun experience and not a stressing one, especially for someone of his age.

I took a break from following the action to reach around Krunal and hand his mini-me Anirudh some of the fruit snacks from the bag that was in my hand. The adorable young one immediately broke out into a bright smile as soon as he saw what I was holding and reached his little fingers inside. Krunal turned slightly to look behind him once he realized what we were up to. "Oh gosh. Don't get him on a sugar high this early."

"Aw come on. You dragged him out of bed this early in the day the kid deserves some sort of sweets." I winked at Anirudh before returning my attention forward to the action on the pitch. I turned to my right and held out the bag to a zoned-out Hardik . "You want some?"

"No thanks." He shook his head and didn't even bother to look at me as he declined, simply holding out his hand to signal his refusal further. He always got like this during the games. He wouldn't entertain me with much conversation unless I wanted to talk about the pitch and his thoughts on what was going good and bad for the team. Usually all I wanted to talk about was what our next meal was going to be.

He had a partner in Krunal this time though because as soon as our side got close to getting a wicket and the fielders missed a catch, it was incredible how fast both he and Krunal shot up from their seats, he leaned over me and began talking with his brother and teammate.

I zoned out of the conversation then, just munching on my candy and following the game as Hardik leaned sprawled over my lap with his elbow practically digging into my thigh. I let him stay that way largely because of the pleasant smell of his cologne that filled my nostrils with how close he was now.