•ISHAN KISHAN•

As Shubman was ordering Ice-cream, my phone pinged with a notification.

Mayank:
I am sorry sweetheart, I won't be able to come today.

Me:

I already guessed it, seriously mayank ? Tune hi plan banaya, aur fir khud cancel kr diya ?

Mayank:
Arrey Sorry na baba! I was
on the way but my colleague
called me because he needed
some documents, and my
laptop was not with me,
so I have to go all the way back.

Me:

For how many days are you in Delhi?

Mayank:
Pata nahi yrr, mai manager
hoon Fir bhi apne Mann se
leave nhi le skta.

Me:
😂😂

Mayank:
😑😑

Me:
Seems like your boss is in love with you
Tabhi tere ko khud se duur nhi krta.

Mayank:
Mere pyaar me hi na marr jaye
Vo.

Me:
Arrey bas bas.

Mayank:
Chal fir do-teen din me plan
banate hain.

Me:
Okayyy.

"Which flavour do you like" Shubman asked me from the counter.

"Ahh.. Mint chocolate chip" I answered momentarily looking away from the phone

He scrunched his nose at my response
"Seriously? That shit taste like toothpaste" He said grimacing.

This is very offensive, how can he talk like this about THE best ice cream flavour in the world? I can't with people who dislike mint chocolate chip flavour.

"Naah man it's the best ice cream flavour" I replied politely, keeping some unkind words to myself.

He almost gagged while ordering that flavour.

he is so dramatic.

How the events turned out today, I was supposed to meet Mayank at the restaurant as he was in Delhi as well.

Mayank is my childhood bestfriend, He works in banglore as a manager.

But rather than meeting him, I end up meeting my fellow team mate Shubman Gill, when I first saw him in the restaurant he was looking at me with a thoughtful expression.

I never in my wildest dream thought that one day someone will ask me to be their fake boyfriend, Let alone Shubman asking me. It's crazy if you think about it.

And what is more wild to me is that he himself told me that he is straight. Then why did he lie about having a boyfriend? He could have lied about having a girlfriend instead.

Why can't he tell the truth to his family? And came out of the closet, but in reverse?

I agreed to help him, but when I saw the hapiness in his mother's eyes I felt guilty, it wasn't right. but I cannot back off at that point.

Even though his sister interrogated us, his mother was so sweet, it felt nice to have some words with her.

When Sheen di asked him about how our relationship started, Shubman looked like a deer caught in the headlight.

The few interaction I had with him during our matches he doesn't seem very talkative person, but today I see a slightly different side of him.

We almost messed up our plan by giving different anwers to sheen Di's question though by the grace of God, Shubman was able to save us both.

As we both made our way back to the table, I began to feel a sense of foreboding, as if something very wrong were about to happen. But what? What could possibly go wrong? The worst thing that could happen is Shubman's mom finding out the truth! Is there something even worse than that, or am I just overthinking?

"How are you finding him lately" Sheen di asked but not in a questionable manner rather out of pure curiosity.

Shubman stopped digging at his vanilla ice cream and looked at sheen "Can you stop this session of yours now?" He said with a stern expression on his face.

Sheen di just shrugged and said, "Never mind, I was just asking." Then she gave me a long, thoughtful look and remarked, "It's puzzling that Shubman is capable of pulling someone like you."

He coughed, his eyes going wide at his sister's statement , "What do you mean" he asked her, looking offended.

"You know what I mean" she mimicked him while replying.

Shubman wanted to give her a befitting reply, but his brain couldn't come up with one. So he resumed eating his ice cream. While I just smiled at their banter, it must be good to have a sister.

Even though this day takes some utterly unexpected turn, It felt good.

If only I had been warned by my future self, then it wouldn't have felt so good.

~~~

___________________________________________

You all must be aware of what happened last evening, BCCI removed some of their players from the central contract. Ishan and Shreyas are two of them.

Ishan asked for a break due to mental fatigue. Just after that, his negative PR started: hundreds of articles, numerous speculations, bashing, and whatnot.

He wasn't ready for red ball cricket as he was improving his technique regarding test cricket. So he decided to make a comeback through T20 DY Patil Cup. He even asked for a NOC.

But what happened? He got sacked from the BCCI central contract. He was mentally fatigued, and BCCI made it ten times worse for him by Constantly telling him to play Ranji and then saying, 'at least play some cricket.' And then finally removing him from the contract.

Okay! If Ishan got removed because he wasn't playing international cricket for a long time(they were only benching him after his good knocks in those matches)
then what about Shreyas? He played throughout the WC 2023. After Virat and Rohit, he is the third Indian with the most runs in WC 2023. And not just that, he played the 1st and 2nd tests between India and England, which is as recent as it gets. He got removed too. WHY? Just because he didn't play a Ranji Match?

Okay! If Shreyas got removed for not giving importance to domestic cricket, then what about Yuzi? He was playing Domestic, be it Vijay Hazare Trophy or Ranji. He too got sacked from the central contract.

They have criteria for 'getting back in the central contract' but no criteria for removal? Because in the end, everything boils down to:

'BCCI KI MARZI'

And as if all this was not enough, they even mentioned:

"Ishan and Shreya were not considered for the central contract in this round of recommendation."

Shows how much BCCI's ego got hurt because of these two players.

There are different rules for different players. Shows how much power and money matters. Your talent comes second, and connections comes first.

F*** BCCI but the reality is BCCI is f***ing everyone else. Especially players who don't have power and connections with influential figures.

Probably and Hopefully we'll get to see Ishan making his International comeback in the Zimbabwe tour of India, in July which is just after T20 WC 2024.

Though one good thing happened, Shubman Gill got promoted to grade A.