Surya's shot ended at Virat's arms and so did the 13th over of the match.
And clearly the match was in Mumbai's hand.
They just needed 66 runs more and with in-form Surya batting on 40 and 7 wickets remaining it was an easy target.
And Virat was obviously very very disappointed.
It was a must win match. To enter the playoffs comfortably. He wanted to win it . For his team. The team for which he played for 13 years. The team for which he wasn't able to win a single title.
This time he had hopes on his team. It was a very balanced team. It had all the qualities to win an IPL trophy.
Virat sent a cold stare at Surya. He didn't felt anything wrong in it. He was just trying to distract him, to unsettle him. If he react to it immaturely and play a stupid shot it might help his team.
He didn't felt it's against the game's spirit. He never missed an opportunity to get under the skin of the opposition. They should be mentally stable to face all those. That was his policy.
Virat continued to stare at Surya while he did the same. Now it was becoming a bit ugly but neither of them backed off.
Virat started walking towards Yuzi as the bowler's end changed but he didn't miss the chance to distract Surya more as he went and stood next to him for a few seconds. He did expect Surya to say something but he just went to the non-striker completely ignoring him.
That was smart, he thought of Surya's move and went to Yuzi.
▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪▪
Surya was very happy. And why shouldn't he.
His team won.
They are already in the playoffs.
They might win the title.
And he was satisfied with his contribution towards it.
The fact that that inning came right after his exclusion from the India side for Australia made it even more special.
He had some hopes to play for his country this time.
But he was okay. Mayank, Manish and Sanju were good too. Mayank was exceptional for India in tests and in the IPL too. And he really liked the idea of him opening for India in limited overs too.
Manish didn't really had a very great season but that doesn't mean that he should be dropped. He knew Manish from KKR. Even Manish had waited to play for India, just like him. Sanju too. He remember seeing him as a young boy from KKR in 2012. Even though he was a bit more younger than them he had also waited a lot. And he is a wicketkeeper. That's an additional skill. He knew that he himself deserved to play for India too. But everyone in the squad deserved that too. He wasn't selected, because he wasn't really needed by Team India now like it needed the others. And Surya was ready to prove his worth to the selectors. And he was happy that his start was good.
He went straight to bed after the match and till the next day morning was unaware of what was happening in the social media.
