When Sunil Chhetri asked who the worst footballer in the team was (actually according to Virat's opinion it was Bhuvi, but he would not say so), he felt like teasing Kuldeep a bit, so he said, "Kuldeep. He should keep himself restricted to PlayStation and never bother about the real game."

Kuldeep, who had obviously been watching the live--he watched every one of Virat bhai and Rohit bhai's lives--frowned and wrote, "Don't lie."

Virat noticed the comment and was partly stunned to see his Kuliya answering him back, but mostly he just wished he could have Kuliya to himself for just half an hour.

Yuzi, jobless as always, wrote, "Kuldeep comment na kar, bhaiya aaj fiery mood me hai."

Kuldeep obediently let it go.

And then Virat just wanted to finish the live off super fast and talk to Kuldeep, even if over the phone.

___________________

"Hello, Virat bhai," said Kuldeep eagerly when got his call. 

"Hello, Kuliya," said Virat, not even realizing that he was smiling just hearing the kid's voice. "Answering me back these days in the public, I see," he said in an aggrieved tone.

"But I'm not the worst footballer in the team," protested Kuldeep.

"Hah," teased Virat. "You and Jassi seem bent on teaching us a thing or two. Growing up, definitely."

What could Kuldeep reply to a statement like that, after all, but since Virat bhai was talking to him like he was an adult for once, he decided to ask him something that he had wanted to ask for a very long time.

"Virat bhai, I have a question," he began tentatively.

"What's it?" asked Virat, surprised to hear his serious tone.

"Why did you..." Kuldeep said. "Why did you dislike me so much when I first came into the team in 2017?"

Virat stilled.

It was not a memory he liked to recollect. In fact it was a memory he never revisited; had not revisited for the last three years.

~Flashback~

It was days after the Champions Trophy final loss to Pakistan in June 2017. The selection committee for the upcoming West Indies ODI series had started.

To Virat's surprise, which soon enough turned to horror, the selectors were clearly holding India's spin twins responsible for the loss.

"You can't drop someone on the basis of one bad match," said Virat.

"It wasn't one bad match...Ashwin and Jadeja have got too easy to pick now, having played continuously at this level for the last 4 years. It's time to move on from them."

NO, screamed Virat's heart, and he thought, his brain as well. They were not going to move on from Ash and Jaddu. They were never going to move on from Ash and Jaddu so long as he was captain.

"You might want to try leg spinners for a change, with the new rules they will be an important tool going into the World Cup."

"So will our existing spinners, sir, they happen to the best in the world!"

"But off spinners are going out these days... Bench Jadeja, try Kuldeep Yadav for a few matches."

"I'm not going to bench Jadeja," said Virat forcefully.

"Then we will be forced to keep him out of the squad altogether," said the head selector heavily. "We are just asking you to try the new wrist spinner with an unbiased opinion."

I am not biased, thought Virat angrily. I am not the one who is biased. It is you who is biased. It is you all who dare speak a work against Jaddu.

The meeting ended on a sort of deadlock, with Virat and the head selector both unwilling to yield an inch.

But a week later, Virat had no choice but to concede to 'resting' Jaddu and playing Kuldeep Yadav, who had made his Test debut a few months earlier and who Virat couldn't, of course, consider a bad player.

All he could do was to hold on to Ash's inclusion.

***

Kuldeep played brilliantly in his first series, taking 8 wickets in four matches. And he seemed to have an uncanny knack of dismissing the most set batsman, and breaking the biggest partnerships.

Virat felt like an absolute failure as a captain and as a friend (mostly as a friend) when he had to approve of each limited overs selection without Jaddu and Ash's name in them anymore.

***

Later, Virat was to realize that holding that against the new, young spinner had been stupid bordering on evil.

During that time, however, just the sight of Kuldeep only reminded him of Jaddu's absence. Survival in the national camps was nearly impossible for Virat without Jaddu, his partner-in-crime, his supporter in everything crazy and chaotic and fun. Shikhar was an able supporter as well, but he wasn't as crazy as Jaddu--and though Hardik went close...even he wasn't the same as Jaddu.

If Kuldeep had had a single chaotic bone in his body, Virat might have judged him less harshly.

But the kid was the most boring possible replacement of Jaddu, and to Virat, even calling him a replacement felt an insult to Jaddu.

Kuldeep was very quiet, perpetually wore a scared expression and was very slow overall.

He was also always late.

The first time he was late for breakfast, Virat chivvied his team to leave for practice exactly on time.

"Some of us aren't here yet," said Jinks, frowning.

"That's their problem, not ours," said Virat with dignity.

"Rohit isn't here," Shikhar reminded him.  "Put on your crazy punctual avatar next series to leave him behind."

It annoyed Virat even more than Rohit should be injured the first series he had to play without Jaddu.

"I can't even leave him behind," he grouched. "He holds me to the first conversation we ever had."

"Where you willingly took on the job of waking him up," said DK, grinning.

"Must have been the biggest idiot in the world," said Virat. "Everyone, to the bus, now!"

The result was that Kuldeep and Shami (who was also always late) arrived at the grounds after over an hour of practice.

"Great timing!" Virat called over, sarcastically.

Shami gave him a lazy salute, unperturbed. Kuldeep, on the other hand, appeared terrified.

Virat, the person, or Virat, the captain, and certainly Virat, the elder brother, at that point, would have gone to tease the terrified person in a friendly way to put him at ease. Virat, Jaddu's best friend, did not.

In between the practice session, Kuldeep made his way up to Virat with tentative steps. Virat saw him approaching out of the corner of his eye, but did not move his eyes from Jassi, who was giving him throwdowns.

Kuldeep hovered around almost fifteen minutes, screwing up his courage.

"Virat bhai," he said finally. "I'm--I'm sorry for being late."

"It's all right," said Virat, turning in his direction but not quite looking at him, and turning back to his throwdowns immediately afterwards.

Kuldeep slunk away at full speed.

***

Virat didn't remember how long he kept up that attitude.

He didn't use to notice the surprised looks he garnered from his friends, either, when he was sometimes the nicest elder brother (his usual) to the other juniors, especially Jassi and Hardik and Rahul, and indifferent to Kuldeep immediately afterwards.

And he couldn't tell when it changed. All he knew was that when Kuldeep took his first ODI hattrick against Australia three months after his debut, and turned the game on his head, Virat had been the wildest celebrator.

Maybe it had been Virat's gradual acceptance of the fact that as captain, he had to let go of personal loyalties that had brought the shift. Maybe it had been the realization that wrist spinners could indeed be their biggest weapon in the coming years.

Or maybe it had just been Kuldeep's unobtrusive innocence that got through Virat's forced indifference and eventually made him so fiercely protective of the kid that he would destroy anyone who tried to hurt him.

~End of flashback~

"Who, me?" Virat tried to lie convincingly. "Why would I dislike you?"

"Virat bhai, I know you by now," said Kuldeep in a voice of determination. "I know the difference between how you behave with people you like and don't like."

This is why, Virat remembered in Rohit's voice, it's risky to be such an open book.

But he absolutely had to lie his way out of this one. He couldn't bear anyone to know he'd been so stupid as to let his personal friendships make him a biased captain...least of all Kuldeep.

"What reason could possibly be there for me to dislike you, Kuliya?" he said lightly.

"That's what I want to know," said Kuldeep. "But... it's all right if you don't want to tell me, Virat bhai," he added quickly.

That made Virat feel more guilty.

Which was the better option if Kuldeep couldn't be convinced that the resentment had never been there?

Tell him the truth and risk hurting him? Not tell him the truth and hurt him anyway?

Virat's natural inclination went towards honesty.

"I'll tell you," he said, "but you can't forget that it was years ago, and just for a few weeks, and that I'm really ashamed of being so silly, all right?"

"All right," said Kuldeep promptly.

"See, Kuliya... I kind of resented you because you'd come in in place of Jaddu bhai."

The moment Virat said it, it struck him that sticking to the lie had been the better option by far.

"Oh!" said Kuldeep.

"But it made no sense--and really, I don't know what made me that stupid--and it's not like you think, Kuliya, it was just something constantly at the back of my mind, it had nothing to do with you--and--"

Kuldeep was silent. Virat asked himself the same question Jinks always did.

When will you grow up?

"--and you know how much I love you, right?" was the only thing Virat could say further.

"Oh--yes, of course," said Kuldeep, in a small voice.

Bet you wish you hadn't said anything now, Virat's deep-hidden sense mocked him.

"I'm so sorry, Kuliya," said Virat, getting desperate. "Please don't be upset... You realize how senseless the whole thing was, don't you? I just missed Jaddu a lot, that was all there was..."

"If I was more like Jaddu bhai, maybe you would have missed him less," said Kuldeep, still sounding subdued.

"No!" said Virat. "No, you didn't have to be more like Jaddu--in fact--in fact, you know what? I got over missing him quite so badly because you're exactly the way you are, Kuliya. I grew so fond of you so fast, it made it easier for me to let go of my biases as captain..."

"Oh," said Kuldeep.

Virat was heartened to hear the change in the tone.

"You're perfect in every way, Kul," he said. "I'm lucky to have you. We all are."

Kuldeep must have been too floored to say anything to that. Virat adopted a lighter topic.

"How about we call Rohit and Yuzi online for battleship and defeat them?"

"You--you mean Yuzi and I playing on opposite sides?" asked Kuldeep.

"Yes, so that you and I can play on the same side," said Virat in his naturally-cheesiest tone.

"Okay," said Kuldeep, smilingly.

___________________

A/N from 2020 (still clearing drafts from Rome): I get ideas of my own so rarely that I feel like mentioning 'this is mine' when I do write a story with them. After the cute Virat-Kuldeep moment in Virat's live, I'm bursting over with love for the adorable pair.

A/N 2: Four years down the line, I do get ideas on my own. I used to be so idea-less when I was younger, used to copy my brother's all the time. That makes me feel even creativity is a craft that can be developed with practice 🧘🏻‍♀️