In the Darkest Hour

The beginning of the fray

Virat opened his door to see Kuldeep standing outside breathlessly.

"Oh, hi--Kuliya..."

Virat looked so bleary eyed, tired and defeated that Kuldeep asked anxiously, "Are you all right, Virat bhai?"

Virat tried to smile as he pulled Kuldeep inside. "Yes, I'm...just a little tired."

Not physically tired...but he felt so tired mentally.

"I've got something to tell you," said Kuldeep, pulling out his phone. "I was added to a strange WhatsApp group today morning by Rayudu--"

Virat waited with bated breath.

"--and they are saying that Rohit bhai--" Kuldeep trailed off as he saw the look on Virat bhai's face.

"That Rohit...?" whispered Virat, clutching Kuldeep's arm.

Kuldeep showed him the chat. Virat read it silently, and his grip on Kuldeep tightened involuntarily.

"It can't be true, can it, Kuliya?" mumbled Virat.

"I dunno...it seems pretty convincing," said Kuldeep, feeling awful at how miserable Virat bhai was looking. "Why don't you talk to Rohit bhai about this? In...in case it's a hoax..."

"It's not a hoax," said Virat, and as he said the words aloud, it hurt as much as a knife run straight through his heart. "I overhead Yograj sir--"

The door opened and Rahul looked in, looking extremely serious. One look at Virat's face and how hard he was holding on to Kuldeep's arm told him what they had been talking about.

"So you told him, Kuldeep?" he confirmed.

"Yes."

"I don't know why the two of us were added to that group," said Rahul, going up to Virat and sitting down on his other side. "It's not like we ever showed disloyalty towards him..."

"Of course not!" cried Kuldeep. "We're on your side, Virat bhai!"

There shouldn't be sides between me and Rohit at all, was all Virat could think.

"D'you think--there's a chance," said Rahul hesitantly. "That it might be fake?"

"No," said Virat heavily. And he told the two of them--because he was sure that they were on his side--about the phone call from yesterday.

"I can't believe that Rohit..." began Rahul.

"Don't--please," said Virat, a slight tremor creeping into his voice.

Rahul fell silent at once.

"Could you do something for me, Kuliya?" asked Virat.

"Anything--anything!" said Kuldeep at once, desperately wanting to remove the sadness from his beloved captain's heart.

"Yuzi might...know something...about this," said Virat haltingly, because it was a big thing to ask Kuldeep, to go behind Yuzi's back. "Yuzi and Rohit are so close, you know."

Kuldeep and Rahul nodded.

"If you could worm it out of him--without saying that you've spoken to me, of course..." Virat looked up at Kuldeep, almost expecting to see him mutinous.

Instead, Kuldeep looked completely determined.

"I'll do it, Virat bhai."

"You do realise that it's kind of--betraying Yuzi, right?" said Virat quietly, because he didn't want to force Kuldeep into anything.

"Yes," said Kuldeep, his face falling slightly. "But it doesn't matter, Virat bhai, I'll manage it, really."

Kuldeep's voice was so earnest and he so obviously wanted to make Virat feel better that Virat spontaneously gave him a hug, feeling close to tears.

Kuldeep tentatively patted Virat on the back before he left. This gesture, however well meant, only strived to remind Virat of Rohit doing the same so many times earlier, and as the door closed behind Kuldeep, it was so hard to keep the tears in check.

Rahul put his arm around Virat.

"I know this is hard on you," he said quietly. "But we'll all stand by you, Virat. Trust me."

"I don't even--" began Virat, but his voice broke. He tried to steady himself and continued, "I don't even know whom I can confide in. Not Yuzi--not Hardik or Jassi...not--not even Jinks or Bhuvi, Jaddu or Shikhar--Rahul, what am I supposed to do?"

"I think we can tell Hardik."

"No-- no!" cried Virat. "He's in MI, he loves Rohit--"

"He loves you, too. And if you can get Hardik on your side, it'll make things better, Virat, it really will."

"I know Hardik can make everything better," said Virat, trying and failing to smile. "But what if he sides with Rohit?"

"Why would he? The entire thing is Rohit's fault, isn't it? No one wants to remove you from captaincy!"

"No one?"

"Except Rohit himself," said Rahul in a nasty voice. "Power hungry traitor," he spat.

"He's not..." Virat checked himself. "All right, you go and tell Hardik then."

"What are you going to do?"

"I just want to check for myself if this is true. I want to talk to Rohit," said Virat.

Rahul gave him a fist bump. "Good luck!"