Being protective little brothers

The captain and the team selection

"Iyer has had an ordinary IPL."

"Iyer is going to Australia with us!"

"You cannot expect us to seriously ignore the performances of the likes of—"

Heaven grant me patience, thought Virat, gritting his teeth and trying to speak calmly.

"The last time India played, sir, on foreign soil, Iyer and Rahul held us together, so Iyer is going to Australia with us, and that's my final word."

***

3 minutes later...

"He is not bowling fit, that's been made clear with us."

"He is good enough to be a specialist batsman..."

"No, he is not," flatly.

"Yes, he is," insisted Virat even more flatly, wondering why on earth every team selection had to be converted into some sort of a battle between him and the chief selector. "Pandya is going to Australia with us for the limited overs series. I refuse to leave him out."

***

5 minutes later...

"His franchise management has not been clear with us; he will not be fit in time for the limited overs series..."

"Maybe so," conceded Virat. "He can join us directly for the Tests."

"He might not find a place in the squad for the Tests."

"Are you—" Virat stopped himself from saying 'insane' with difficulty. "As captain, I cannot let Sharma not come with us!"

"You seem to be overshooting some boundaries, Mr. Kohli. Might I remind you that the team selection is not your decision alone?"

"I know," said Virat, breathing heavily. "I know, but..."

"We have already included Iyer and Pandya in the limited overs squads at your insistence. You wish to withdraw that?"

Damn it, thought Virat. He could certainly not withdraw his demand to put Shreyas' name in the squad. The boy was already down on confidence, under the brash mask he put on; he'd spoken to him days ago before the RCB-DC match, and Virat knew Shreyas well enough not to be fooled.

As for leaving Hardik out, that was out of the question, and he would simply never allow it.

Same with Rohit.

But he had the sense to realize that putting his foot down for a third time in a span of ten minutes would lead to things becoming really messy.

Besides, he'd think of some other way to include Rohit later on, once the initial squads were announced.

"No, I don't withdraw my request to include Iyer and Pandya," he said quietly.

Because Rohit was the Rohit Sharma, the one for whom all rules may bend if he waited for the right moment, but Iyer and Pandya were just his Shreya and his Harry, talented overachievers in a world of overachievers.

And whatever they may try to impose, Test cricket mattered to Rohit, and Rohit was going to Australia with them.

_________

Jassi and Hardik were not pleased the day the squads vs Australia were announced.

Like you know, they had reached that level in international cricket that squad announcement did not excite them all that much—they'd be there, all right—so they hadn't even bothered to go through the squad in much details, till...

The grumbling and grouching in the Mumbai Indians dressing room about three of their top performers—Surya, Kishan and Chahar—being overlooked changed into something else, something drastic about a captain-vice captain rift.

"Now what have Rohit bhaiya and Virat bhaiya done again to spark off the rumours?" Jassi mumbled to Hardik.

"Let's ask 'em," said Hardik brightly, and went up to Kishan and asked, "Bro, what's up with the captain and vice-captain?"

"Dunno," said Kishan. "Rohit bhaiya is not in any of the squads, so people are saying..."

"Wait a moment," said Jassi, frowning. "Rohit bhaiya is not in any of the squads? Not even in the Test one?"

"See for yourself," said Surya, nudging his phone at the duo.

"This is not nice," said Jassi, when he and Hardik got away from the others. "How dare the selectors not take Rohit bhaiya? He said he'll be fit before the Tests, he said so!"

Hardik looked too troubled to say anything, but he definitely agreed with Jassi that this was not 'nice.'

Then they heard the familiar voice behind them, speaking to Ishan, comforting him about being left out of the squad, trying to distract him.

Just like the Rohit bhaiya they knew, trusted—and loved.

"I'm going to go and kill the selectors," said Hardik, his face red.

"Virat bhaiya has probably already done that," said Jassi comfortingly. Then he stopped and turned to Hardik. "Why didn't Virat bhaiya insist on including Rohit bhaiya in the team?"

Hardik frowned.

"You're right—why didn't he? Surely he must have that much power over the selectors, with all of Rohit's achievements backing him?"

Jassi felt all the blood draining away from his face.

"Hardik, you don't think—"

"No, we'll ask Virat and see, ok? Now stop freaking out," ordered Hardik, seeing that Jassi looked quite beyond ordinary 'troubled.'

They could not bring up that topic with Rohit bhaiya, no matter no much they tried. Maybe they didn't try hard enough, maybe at the back of their minds, they were scared of the answer.

They were scared of Rohit bhaiya saying that he didn't know what was going on, either.

Which was why they decided to wait to ask Virat directly—the only person who wold not say he didn't know what was going on.

The only one with answers.

________

Hardik and Jassi were not the only ones displeased with the team selection. The captain of Delhi Capitals, who had not approved of the snub to his hometown senior from the beginning, lost it the night of the final, when the opposition captain left his own celebrations and came up to him and instead of alluding to the match in any way, laid a hand on his shoulder and showed he cared.

________

The new vice-captain, if he'd thought through it properly, would not have approved of the decision either.

But the new vice-captain, of all the people in the world, could not see beyond Virat Kohli.

Virat Kohli could murder the whole world and KL Rahul would still think he did the right thing. It was just one of those weaknesses humans had.

A/N: Is it totally weird that I want to write on Rohit-Shreyas now?