In the Darkest Hour

The lone ray of hope

Rohit couldn't face the idea of seeing any of his teammates the next day. He didn't leave the safety of his room even once.

He dreaded the next day's afternoon, when he would have to face them for the flight to Barbados, the venue of the 3rd ODI.

Which got him thinking that how on earth would he play with a team who thinks such terrible stuff about him?

He couldn't continue to play this series. It would be just too much.

Finally, he reached a decision, and he typed out a formal mail to his captain, saying that he would not be available for the rest of the series due to 'personal reasons'.

It made him feel so much more peaceful, though still had to fly to Barbados. He booked a ticket to Mumbai from there immediately afterwards.

_____________

Virat was with Jinks and Shikhar when he noticed the email.

He went blank again.

Rohit was pulling out? Where would this end? With him retiring at 32?

Shikhar noticed Virat's horrified expression and snatched away his phone, and he and Jinks read it.

"This is the best we could have hoped for, you know, Virat," Jinks said after five minutes of silence.

"Why?"

"If one team member starts an unrest, he has to be removed, right?" asked Jinks.

"Yeah," said Shikhar, though he and Jinks were both feeling just as awful as Virat... Somehow this resignation had a finality about it.

They would go in separate ways from Barbados, and after that, it would be too late to mend things.

It was the end of their beloved 2013 team, there was no doubt about it.

They went out to look for Jaddu and Bhuvi, who were also part of their old team, of course, and the five of them mourned in silence.

Poor Rohit, however, didn't even have anyone to mourn with.

____________

The next morning, Rohit finally thought of the only person he could tell everything to--Mahi bhai.

Mahi bhai often didn't pick up calls, but to Rohit's immeasurable relief, he picked up his call after the first ring itself.

"Hi, Mahi bhai," Rohit said.

"Are you ok, Rohit?" came Mahi bhai's voice, which sounded so familiar, so warm and so comforting that Rohit felt on the verge of tears again.

He was trying to steady his voice when Mahi bhai spoke again. "You're not, are you? What happened between you and Virat?"

"Did he already speak to you?" cried Rohit, his voice trembling out of control.

If Virat had already approached Mahi bhai, everything would be spoilt--though everything was already spoilt, remembered Rohit.

"No, but I was watching the last match, you know, and clearly something was wrong," said Mahi bhai. "What is it, Ro?" he asked gently.

That was all Rohit needed just then--Mahi bhai listening as he told him everything from the beginning...how they had started to ignore him with no apparent reason, their accusations, Rayudu's strange comments, Saha's too, how his best friends hated him now--how much Virat hated him...

At that point, Rohit broke down.

It was becoming too hard to control himself lately, thought Rohit, amidst sobs.

"Rohit--Rohit...calm down... it's ok, Rohit, I promise I'll put things right..."

"Even you can't do that, Mahi bhai," sobbed Rohit.

"You aren't seriously challenging me, are you?" This made Rohit smile a little through his tears. "Look... I've known both of you right from your debuts, and I know you wouldn't ever conspire against any captain--and certainly not against Virat. But I also know that Virat wouldn't believe in a thing like that without enough proof either," said Mahi bhai thoughtfully. "That means there's a powerful third party present here..."

Mahi bhai fell silent, which made Rohit ask anxiously, "Are you still there?"

"Of course I am, you idiot," said Mahi bhai, because to him, Rohit would always remain the 20-year-old child who started playing under him in 2007.

After that Rohit let Mahi bhai brood in peace. He felt much, much calmer because this was Mahi bhai, and if he said he'll put things right, he would do it.

"I think I've got it," said Mahi bhai finally.

"Really?" said Rohit, thrilled.

"I guarantee things will be normal before the 3rd ODI."

"Oh... about that... Mahi bhai, actually I pulled out of the rest of the series," said Rohit hesitatingly.

"It was a bit extreme, but I can't really blame you," said Mahi bhai honestly. "Can you take it back?"

"No!" cried Rohit vehemently.

"Because you can't talk to Virat?"

"I guess...yeah... that's it..."

Something about Rohit's voice tore at his elder brother's heartstrings.

"I'll take care of everything, Ro, trust me."

"I wish you were here, Mahi bhai."

"I'm wishing that myself," admitted the best role model anyone could ever have--the one and only MS Dhoni.