"Jaddu," said Virat cheerfully over the phone after Jadeja successfully finished off the game of CSK vs KKR.

"Hello," said Jaddu, still on a high from the celebrations.

His back still stung from where Deepak had slapped him around ten times. His neck still hurt where Ruturaj had wrung it with all his strength.

"I'm proud of you," said Virat. "I'm most awfully proud of you, Jad!"

"Yeah, well," said Jaddu, grinning over the phone. "Thanks."

"I'm sure it's a comfort, Jad," said Virat. "to finish off this game taking apart a New Zealand bowler."

Jaddu's smile slid off his face.

"Of course it must be such a comfort to console yourself with..." said Virat. "By the way Rohit wants to speak to you..."

"Oh..." said Jaddu, feeling all confused at the way Virat had phrased it. "Is he-is he with you?"

"No, conference call, dummy," said Virat.

"Hello, Jad...Vi..." came Rohit's voice. "Great finishing today, Jaddu. You must be pretty happy?"

Rohit's tone did not sound right somehow, either.

"Yeah...yeah, quite," said Jaddu.

"Specially taking Lockie on," said Rohit. "You didn't do it in July last year, but of course, we understand."

Jaddu fell silent, wondering if he had done something to offend them. He hadn't done anything that bad, recently, had he, for Rohit and Virat to be attacking him along this line? And it didn't seem like Rohit or Virat's style either...at all...even if they were offended about something.

Were they joking?

Ah, that must be it.

Jaddu forced himself to laugh, because they must be joking.

"You do seem happy," commented Virat.

"'Course he is, Virat," said Rohit. "You know what a great comfort this must be to him...finishing and all for his franchise."

"Finisher," said Virat, with a special emphasis. "In a chase where the rest of the team has failed. When your team needs it-oh, I forgot, CSK had already been eliminated. I confused it with the semi final for a while."

"An easy mistake to make," said Rohit sarcastically.

Jaddu felt his head pounding now. For a moment, he contemplated asking them straight out what was wrong-but he couldn't bring himself to do that.

Could he?

"Virat...Rohit..." he began.

"Yeah?" said the two of them.

Ask them, you idiot, ask them. That was what Rohit or Virat would do if they'd been in his place.

"Nothing," said Jaddu quickly.

"If you say so, finisher...winner of tough chases..."

"For CSK...mind...not India, oh no, of course not..."

"Jaddu bhaiya! JADDU BHAIYA!"

Now Deepak's voice was hollering in his ears.

"WE'VE REACHED!"

Reached where? thought Jaddu frantically.

Then he realized that he had been sleeping slumped against the window of the bus.

For a moment, the relief was so powerful that Jaddu felt his eyes stinging. Then it dawned on him that the only difference between his nightmare and the reality was that Virat and Rohit wouldn't be crude enough to say all those to him.

But that didn't make those untrue either.

"Come onnn, Jaddu bhaiya," said Deepak, tugging at his arm and pulling him up. Then he caught the blank look on Jaddu's face and commented, "You're still half asleep."

Jaddu hadn't felt this wide awake in his life.

***********

Virat calling.

Jaddu pinched himself to make sure he wasn't inside another nightmare before receiving the call.

"Jaddu!" said Virat, just as cheerfully as in his nightmare.

"Virat," said Jaddu nervously.

"Hey, what's up? You sound kinda weird," said Virat. "I guess you must be tired."

"I-" said Jaddu like he was supposed to. "I don't get tired, dummy."

"Clearly," said Virat. Jaddu could almost see him laughing on the other end. "By the way, nice knock today."

Jaddu swallowed.

"Thanks..."

"I'm most awfully proud of you!" said Virat.

Here it comes, thought Jaddu with a thrill of horror.

"Damn it, Jad, when will the IPL end? I will even play Monopoly for Jinks' sake if we could all play it together."

Jaddu gave a half-laugh.

Why was he even freaking out like this? Who did that? Even if everyone did that, Ravindra Jadeja did not freak out, scared that his friend might say something along the lines of the semi final and Lockie Ferguson.

"Just a couple of weeks more." Virat answered his own question. "And clearly you're not in a mood for conversation, sir. Good luck pretending you're not tired, and good night."

Every moment on the call meant an extra moment for Jaddu to be scared, so it was almost a relief when he said, "G'night" and hung up.

What was the difference between that nightmare and this reality, really?

Since 10th July, 2019, Jaddu felt that his life had become a living nightmare...and would never cease being so.

*****************

India vs West Indies, 3rd ODI, December 2019 (assume it to be 2020)

Cottrell to Jadhav, OUT

India needs 88 runs off 67 balls

Virat Kohli 61(58)

Ravindra Jadeja 0 (0)

Jadeja stood up to go down and join Virat. And found his legs strangely reluctant to obey him.

It was the first time since the semi final that he was required to go to bat with a tricky chase within reach. For...India.

And he did not want to go down to bat. Not anymore.

"What're you waiting for?" Rohit asked him, mystified.

"Nothing," said Jaddu, starting to walk down.

"Hey," said Rohit, darting up to him. "You can do it, ok?"

Jaddu blinked.

He wished Rohit would stop believing in him.

Rohit's belief made everything a million times worse.

"Because you-" said Rohit.

Don't. Please.

"-are strong," finished Rohit, grinning.

Jaddu grinned back uneasily and trudged down.

************

Jaddu did not want to bat.

Virat was taking a swig of water when he reached the pitch.

"Jad," he said, with a similar grin as Rohit's. "Here we are, again. It should be easy...."

"You think so?" said Jaddu doubtfully.

"Yeah, since we're here."

"Since you're here, actually," mumbled Jaddu.

"What was that?" demanded Virat.

Jaddu looked up at the stands and at the dugout. From his line of sight from the middle of the pitch, he could quite imagine that he was standing in the middle of the pitch of Edgebaston, playing New Zealand, a nation's prayers resting on his shoulders.

For once, Jaddu spoke without trying to keep up a guise of cheer.

"I don't want to bat, Virat," he said. "Not really."

"Because it reminds you of-stuff?" said Virat.

"Yeah..." said Jaddu. "Stuff."

The umpire indicated at them that their break had gone on too long.

Jaddu took strike and the first ball edged away for a four.

The people in the stands clapped. Jaddu found his shoulders shaking.

He wished people wouldn't clap.

He wished Virat wouldn't approach him like that, all smiley.

He did not want to bat.

*************

"So we were saying," Virat continued after that ball (the 38th over had just got over). "You don't want to bat."

Jaddu jerked his head in a half hearted 'no', already regretting having spoken that thing.

He wasn't supposed to say things like that out loud. Really, it was quite insulting.

"Because it reminds you of stuff," said Virat.

"Yeah," said Jaddu absent mindedly.

"Stuff like?" persisted Virat. "Bad stuff?"

Jaddu thought of Trent Boult, and his lofted shot, and that catch out.

Definitely bad stuff.

"Yeah," he said again.

"But doesn't it also remind you of some of the good stuff, Jad?"

Good?

"N-not really..."

"Think seven years back..." said Virat. "Think 23rd June 2013..."

Jaddu did.

He remembered his and Virat's match saving and Champions Trophy winning partnership after that double wicket (Dhoni and Raina) maiden over.

He remembered Virat's push ups at the trophy collection.

And almost grinned.

The umpire signaled the start of the next over.

Virat met him again in the mid-pitch at the end of that over.

"Think January 2014..."

Jaddu did.

He remembered saving India from definite defeat with Ash when the opponents had counted them out. He remembered his 17 off the last over to take the match to a tie.

"Think December 2014..." said Virat, warming up now, and grinning really widely.

Jaddu remembered his and Bhuvi's tail end partnership against Australia to push the 3rd Test for a draw.

For the next five overs, Virat kept coming up to him between every two overs and reminding him of the times he had actually batted well for India.

In other words, the good stuff.

That made him want to go on batting.

So he did.

At the end of the 45th over, when he had run out of memories, Virat punched Jaddu's arm and spoke softly.

"Life comes with the good stuff and the bad, y'know, Jaddu?"

Grinning at the irony of Virat, the most tactless person in the universe, sprouting philosophy, Jaddu nodded.

"So you got to take 'em as they come."

On the first ball of the 46th over, with 30 needed off 24, Virat played himself on, putting a brake on India's hope of winning the match easily.

Jaddu realized with a sinking heart that if they had to win from here, he'd have to take charge.

Before walking off, Virat said fiercely, "You will bat. And you'll make us win."

**************

And that day, with Shardul's help, Jaddu did.

He did not even feel that strongly that he didn't want to bat.

Batting was ok, really, thought Jaddu as the team swarmed around them after they hit winning runs-and India won the decider.

"What did I tell you, dummy?" Virat yelled in Jaddu's ear.

"What did you tell him?" demanded Rohit, who had overheard that.

"Life comes with the good stuff and the bad," said Jaddu smoothly. "That's what he told me, Ro. Got to get him in touch with a philosopher, yeah?"

"Virat! Philosopher!" cried Shikhar in horror. "Don't say such horrific things, Jad, I won't be able to sleep at night!"

Everyone around roared with laughter at Shikhar's exaggerated reaction, Jaddu and Virat included.

Maybe life was not a continual living nightmare....

Only occasionally.

Because life came with the good stuff and the bad. If the semi final and all those hundreds of losses-specially the knockout ones were the bad-

The people surrounding him right now...Gabbar, still wearing a horrified expression, Rohit, punching Shikh on the shoulder, Virat, doubled up with laughter, Bhuvi, shaking his head in exasperation-and the rest of the team-and Jinksy and Ash back at their homes-were the good stuff.

And maybe...just maybe...the good stuff outweighed the bad.

.