God of Cricket!-Chapter 46: Atmosphere

Chapter 46: Atmosphere

The fans at Heathrow Airport still followed the players to where they were supposed to take their team bus. Some of the British-Asian girls couldn’t help but talk about Aryan.

Honestly speaking, the girls couldn’t resist staring at him which was a very common thing, but

Aryan’s sharp features and green eyes made him stand out even among the glamorous Mumbai squad.

Aryan, however, didn’t mind, as being a public figure—a rising star in the cricket-crazy world of 2007—would mean people would always have their eyes on you.

The female fans kept giggling and whispering in each other’s ears while looking at Aryan, clutching their autograph books.

The players were finally led to the luxury coach that would take them to the hotel in Central London.

The Mumbai Senior Team would be playing 4 matches in total on this pre-season tour.

Two One-Day matches against English County sides, Surrey and Middlesex, and the other two matches would be First-Class (4-Day) fixtures against Sussex and a T20 warm-up against Somerset, who were also preparing for their Twenty20 Cup campaign.

The players, after a few pictures and autographs with the diaspora fans, entered their bus and were soon on their way down the M4 motorway.

"It seems they don’t know you yet, Wonderboy," said Rohit Sharma, sitting in the seat across the aisle.

This was because none of the fans asked Aryan for a picture or an autograph apart from the small boy, Rohan, earlier. They were swarming around Sachin Tendulkar (who joined late), Zaheer Khan, and Ajit Agarkar.

The other players laughed at this, and Aryan couldn’t help but think how fickle fame could be.

Aryan, looking at Rohit, said, "They will soon," before looking away out the window at the grey London skyline.

Wasim Jaffer, the captain who was sitting behind Aryan, couldn’t help but smile at his self-belief.

"Wish I was that confident when I was 15," thought Jaffer as he looked at the back of Aryan’s head.

The players arrived at The Langham, the hotel they would be staying in for the next 2 to 3 weeks, and to be honest, it had exceeded their expectations.

The hotel had a classic Victorian architecture and a peaceful atmosphere, a stark contrast to the chaos of Mumbai, which was a very good thing for players who would be exhausted after training sessions in the English cold.

The players waited in the grand lobby while the Team Manager, Mr. Sathe, finished with some check-in procedures.

Coach Praveen Amre approached the team and told them to have a good night’s rest as they would be training at The Oval the following morning.

The players were given key cards which had the names of who they would be staying with, and Aryan found out he would be staying with Rohit Sharma.

Aryan, a bit annoyed, looked at Rohit who was grinning at him. "What is wrong with my luck?" Aryan thought. Rohit was known to be a prankster and a heavy sleeper.

Rohit, as if reading Aryan’s thoughts, said, "It’s not your luck, I asked Coach if we could be put together in the same room since we are the ’young guns’ and they said it was possible."

Rohit watched on as Aryan walked to the Manager in charge of accommodation.

"Could I have a different roommate?" Aryan said with a blank expression.

Rohit quickly grabbed Aryan by the shoulder before smiling wryly at the manager who looked confused as to what was going on between the two youngsters.

"Why would you change your roomie Aryan? Don’t be such a child," Rohit said, laughing.

"Well, I am a child," Aryan shot back.

Rohit couldn’t help but curse inwardly as Aryan always seemed to have the last say.

The other players, including Ajinkya Rahane and Dhawal Kulkarni, couldn’t help but laugh at the banter between the two.

Coach Amre stood there shaking his head fondly.

"Hold on," Aryan said to Rohit who was still talking about ordering room service.

Aryan pulled his Nokia N95 out of his pocket and smiled at the caller ID.

"Hello Ma," Aryan said as he kept talking with his mom on the phone.

Priya and Riya had arrived a few hours before Aryan and his team had arrived and were staying with Aryan’s grandparents in Southall.

Priya asked how Aryan was doing and the two talked for a few minutes before deciding to end it.

"Say hello to Grandma and Grandpa for me," Aryan said.

After Aryan ended the call, Rohit came towards him.

Aryan, who knew Rohit was going to drag him into some nonsense, quickly left for the elevators with his key card.

Rohit also took his kit bag and ran after Aryan. The other players just stood there laughing at the scene that had just happened in front of them.

"Those two seem to have brought a new energy to this dressing room," Coach Amre said as he looked at the retreating backs of Aryan and Rohit.

The rest of the players and staff headed towards their rooms for some rest before they took their brunch.

After brunch, a few of the players decided to go outside and tour Central London for a while, but Aryan decided to stay at the hotel to recover from the flight.

Surprisingly, Rohit too stayed at the hotel, and the duo just played FIFA 07 on the PlayStation portable console that Rohit brought.

The players that had gone out didn’t return until dinner, and Coach Amre scolded them a bit for staying out late in the chilly weather.

Rohit stood laughing at the other players, and Aryan just stood there shaking his head.

The other players made a mental note to teach Rohit a lesson after this—but the tables turned.

The players knew Rohit liked to watch horror movies but at the same time was scared of ghosts and jumpscares. Aryan decided to prank him.

And Ajit Agarkar was in on the fun. Aryan pretended to go out to the vending machine while Rohit was watching The Ring (which was popular then) after dinner.

The players had fully committed to the prank and had gone all out, even buying a creepy clown mask from a nearby costume shop, leaving Rohit in oblivion.

Agarkar, dressed in a white bedsheet with the mask, stood behind the door while Aryan waited outside.

Aryan decided this would make a good video for his posts on his newly created Facebook/Orkut page and decided to record it on his handycam.

Aryan had intentionally left the door ajar as it was also a part of the prank.

Aryan stood with his camera recording the prank.

Agarkar scratched the door.

"I thought you said you were getting a cola, Aryan?" Rohit said while turning his head, his eyes wide with fear from the movie.

Unfortunately for him, the scene behind him made Rohit feel like peeing himself as what he saw—a ghostly figure standing in the dim hallway light—gave him a scare.

Rohit jumped back on the bed while screaming a high-pitched scream in an attempt to run away from what was behind him but instead got tangled in the duvet and fell down.

The players couldn’t help but burst out laughing as Agarkar took off the mask.

Aryan, who had fully captured this on camera, couldn’t help but laugh at his senior teammate.

Rohit, after realizing it was his teammates, lay on the floor trying to regain his soul which seemed to have jumped out of his body.

"You b******s!" Rohit yelled, breathless.

Aryan quickly took a few pictures of him before threatening to post them on social media.

He also sent the video via Bluetooth to the team phones.

The players left, happy with the entertainment, and Aryan went to the balcony.

He didn’t want to face Rohit’s wrath just yet.

While going out, Aryan got a call from Ananya.

It had been a few days since Aryan informed her about the tour and they hadn’t talked since she was busy with assignments.

Aryan stood on the balcony overlooking Oxford Street while talking to Ananya.

"The view is amazing here, Anu. It’s cold, but it’s beautiful," Aryan described.

"We should both come here sometime," Aryan said as he imagined walking the London streets with her.

Ananya, who heard this on the other end of the line, couldn’t help but smile.

"Yeah, we should," she said with a voice that made Aryan’s heart beat a bit faster.

"Soon," Aryan thought as he continued with the conversation. They finally ended the call after an hour, and Aryan decided to go to sleep now.

__________

The Next Day

Aryan woke up early the next day. Putting on his Mumbai training tracksuit and a woolen beanie, Aryan headed out to complete his daily task.

The London morning was foggy. Aryan, after running for a while towards Regent’s Park, decided to head back to the hotel as he didn’t want to get lost.

As he was jogging past the park ovals, he saw a few kids his age or older on a turf pitch nearby and decided to have his own warm-up before the team one.

The team training would start at 10 AM at The Oval, and it was currently 6:48 AM.

"Can I join you guys?" Aryan said in English as he approached the other guys.

The other kids, who saw him, just looked at him, especially his athletic build and the Mumbai logo on his track pants, before one spoke.

"Sure, mate, but you gotta at least have some skill. We play proper cricket here," the boy said, tossing a full toss to Aryan.

Aryan, who saw the ball coming his way, caught it with soft hands, spinning the seam perfectly.

"Nice grip," the other kid said after seeing Aryan handle the ball.

"Well guys, it’s settled then," he said to the other guys.

Aryan joined the team of the boy who had tossed the ball to him as it was the one with a position left.

"Do you play club cricket or...?" the boy asked Aryan, to which he replied, "Yeah."

"My name’s Kevin by the way," he said bringing forth his hand for a shake.

"Aryan," Aryan said while taking Kevin’s hand in his.

"Do you also play?" Aryan asked.

The other kids couldn’t help but look at Aryan with weird stares.

"Yes, I do," he said before smiling at Aryan.

"You’re not from around here, are you?" one of the kids said as he approached Aryan.

"Nope, just arrived in London yesterday," Aryan said.

"Well, Kevin here is a Middlesex Academy player who just got promoted to the Second XI," the kid continued.

"Yeah, and he’s kind of famous in the county circuit since he’s just 17," another added.

"Huh," Aryan said looking at Kevin who was now with some of the other kids.

"The players around him are also academy players at Middlesex and Surrey, and the ones we are playing against today are from a touring club," said the player called Steve.

"Oh, and that guy is also kind of Kevin’s rival," a kid said pointing to a brown-haired youth.

"He’s James, and he was also recently promoted to the Surrey Second XI. He’s the same age as Kevin," the kid said.

Aryan, as if anticipating this, had brought a small kit bag with him that had his custom boots.

Taking out his Nike spikes, the other kids couldn’t help but look at the boots. They were top-tier, usually worn by internationals.

"Nice spikes," Kevin said.

"Thanks," Aryan replied. After he finished lacing up, Kevin asked Aryan which position he would like to play, and Aryan said if a batting spot or bowling spell was available, he’d take it.

Fortunately for him, the team needed a top-order batsman as one of their openers hadn’t shown up.

Aryan walked over to the pitch. Now that the other players looked at him, his height (6’1") was imposing for a 15-year-old.

The passers-by who saw the kids playing asked the other kids on the boundary about the match, and after they learnt about the academy rivalry, they decided to stay and watch a bit.

Some people also decided to stay as they recognized Kevin and James. One kid, aside from the two, stood out in particular because of his fluid movement.

"Must be a foreigner, probably Indian or Pakistani based on the skin tone," a man said in English.

"Maybe an expat living in London," a female voice added.

After the players got into position, the teen acting as the umpire shouted "Play".

The opponent team batted first. Aryan’s team had to field.

The team was playing well, and Aryan had to say, they were well coordinated and disciplined in the cool English conditions.

Aryan’s team chased the ball as the opponents tried to breakthrough. James got the strike and started moving the scoreboard.

He looked around trying to find space and he found one as he drove through the covers.

With a quick single, he got off strike.

The player, Sam, who got the strike quickly moved forward as he faced the spinner.

He stepped out to the pitch of the ball.

He ran and lofted the ball over the long-on boundary.

Six runs! The ball cleared the park fence.

Aryan stood at mid-off with a smile on his face.

"Not bad," he said, adjusting his cap.

(To be Continued)