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So I might be a little late in updating this week because I'm currently out of station, but I'll try my best to update on time.

The above song is 'Adhure' from the movie 'Mary Kom'

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So Siya has finally made her international debut.

Wonder how her next few matches will go?

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Soon after the start of the new year, India was playing a T20I Tri-Series with England and Australia, with the later playing hosts this time.

The T20 World was scheduled in the following month with Australia as the hosts and the Women in Blue were determined to perform well in the tournament.

Siya made her T20I debut in the first match against England, after which she plays the last match against Australia.

The Indians play both the teams twice, where they win one match but lose the other.

Siya isn't named in the playing eleven for the finals, but she comes out on the field as a substitute fielder.

Australia wins the final comfortably, before the teams start gearing up for the big event.

~~~~~~~

A few days after the Tri-Series Finals, the warm up matches for the World Cup start, where India was supposed to face Pakistan first, but the match gets abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Luckily India gets to play their second warm up match against West Indies, which they win, before getting ready to face the mighty Australians in their first match.

Siya plays lower down the batting order, as India beat Australia in the first match after some brilliant performances by Deepti Sharma and Poonam Yadav.

The next match where Siya plays is against New Zealand, where her power hitting gives India a good total to defend.

India remains undefeated in the group stage and faces England in the semi-final.

The match had to be shortened due to rain, so Harman decides to send Siya as an opener with Shafali to give the team a good boost at the start of the innings.

India won the match comfortably after the fireworks display, courtesy of the two openers who had both stayed not out till the end.

The finals is against Australia who had qualified after beating South Africa in the second semi-final match.

Unfortunately, India has a terrible day on the field with their bowlers being smashed around for boundaries in the first innings, while the second innings consists of a complete collapse of their batting order.

Siya was in tears after her team loses the final by a huge margin, after performing so well throughout the tournament.

The team stays together in the captain's room, as they console each other after yet another heart breaking loss.

Shafali and Siya were the most affected, since this was their first major ICC tournament and neither of them had performed well in the most important match when their team was counting on them.

Their seniors were thinking about how to console the two youngsters, when Siya got a call from her brother.

Mahi talks to all the girls on speaker and motivates them to train harder by concentrating on performing well in their next match.

The girls all agree to not dwell on this match and do their best in order to win India her first major trophy in Women's Cricket.

Mahi was glad to see that his words had made a positive impact on all the players and silently prays for the Women's Team to win their first ICC trophy soon.

~~~~~~~

A few days later when the Indian Team came back home, they all decide to take some time off cricket because they didn't have any matches in the near future.

Siya is greeted by her brother at the airport in Ranchi, who had come to pick her up.

Mahi drives his car home in silence because his little chatterbox had been extremely quiet since the day of the final against Australia.

He was worried about his little sister's mental state because she hadn't opened up to anyone about what was going on in her mind.

After coming home, Ziva had succeeded in making her Bui smile a little and seeing this, Mahi sighs in relief.

Sakshi is also worried about her little sister, but she knew that given the circumstances her husband was the best person to handle the situation.

Ziva went to sleep soon enough, and Mahi took his sister out for a walk in the garden where Siya was still silent, so he decides to break the silence and asks, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Siya just shakes her head and replies, "It's nothing Bhaiya. Don't worry."

Mahi asks, "Ab Bhaiya se jhooth bolegi (Now you'll lie to your brother)?"

Siya replies, "Nahi Bhaiya, but aapko pareshaan nahi karna chaahti (No Bhaiya, but I just didn't want to bother you)."

Mahi sternly says, "Tell me whatever is on your mind right now."

Siya sighs and replies, "I don't know if I deserve my spot on the team. Team ko jab zaroorat thi tab toh maine kuch nahi kiya (When the team needed me to perform, I couldn't)."

Mahi says, "Abhi bhi final ke baare me soch rahi hai (You are still thinking about the finals)? I always tell you to take losses as learning experiences. In sports, either you learn or you enjoy what you have learnt. And why do you think that you don't deserve your spot on the team? You have worked hard and earned your place in the team. Trust me Gudiya, you are a very talented cricketer."

Siya asks, "What is the point of being talented if I can't perform when my team needs me to? Shouldn't I just leave the spot for a better player?"

Mahi waits for a moment and replies, "You know what you're absolutely right. If you can't help your team, then you should let someone better take your spot."

Siya is stunned because she was not really expecting her brother to agree with her words.

Mahi ignores the expression on his sister's expression and continues, "In fact, I think that I probably should have retired after the 2007 World Cup only. Or better yet, after my first series against Bangladesh. Or maybe even-"

Siya interjects, "Bhaiya, what are you saying?"

Mahi replies, "You only just said that you don't deserve your spot because you couldn't perform when the team needed you to. According to your logic, I have had so many instances throughout my career when I should have left the team. I should have announced my retirement long back."

Siya says, "But Bhaiya, you know that you have a lot of cricket left in you. When you know that you are fit enough to play then why should you quit?"

Mahi replies, "In that case, even you have a lot of cricket left in you. In fact, you're just getting started, so why are you questioning your place in the team? The selectors and the management believe in you and that's why you are a part of the team. Your captains believe in you and that is why they selected you in their squad. Just because you were unable to perform well in one match, you will quit?"

Siya says, "But the team needed me to score well, but then I just went and got bowled out on the first ball."

Mahi replies, "I got myself run out in my first match. Then I got out on a duck in two out of the three matches I played in my first World Cup. Do you think I should have quit back then just because I couldn't perform when the team needed me to?"

Siya says, "No because it makes no sense."

Mahi replies, "Then why is the situation different for you? Take this as a learning experience and use it to become a better cricketer."

Siya nervously asks, "What if I am unable to?"

Mahi replies, "Gudiya, I believe in you. I know that you can do it. You will come back stronger after this incident. I know that you are not happy about losing in your first ICC event, but you've got many more to come. Just keep working hard and stay positive because one day you will win."

Siya smiles before hugging her brother and says, "Thank you Bhaiya"

Mahi jokingly replies, "No need to thank me. I just wanted my little chatterbox back. I don't like this quiet little girl at all."

Siya playfully punches her brother in his stomach, before they both burst out laughing together.

A few moments later, Mahi smiles and says, "Keep smiling like this and remember that no matter what happens, I am always with you."

Siya gives her brother a tight squeeze, before they go to bed with Siya curling into her brother's side.

~~~~~~~

A few weeks later, a nationwide lockdown is announced and all cricket activities are halted immediately.

Mahi and Siya would train in their home to maintain their fitness levels, after which Siya spent the rest of her time studying.

The lockdown had been somewhat of a boon for Siya, particularly from her academics point of view.

She had cleared her board exams around the start of the year, being one of the youngest students ever to clear the exams in her first attempt and was now completing her graduation.

Mahi had pulled some strings at a local college to help his sister continue her studies with the help of a tutor and only going to the college for her required lab hours when the lockdown rules were slightly relaxed.

Siya was set to complete her graduation well before time because she was able to complete the required number of credits for all her lectures.

After her studies were over, Siya started training for the 2020 edition of the Women's T20 Challenge, where she was going to play under Smriti in the Trailblazers.

~~~~~~~

Mahi was aware of all the things going on in his little sister's life and tried his best to keep her relaxed at all times.

Siya sometimes needed help with her homework, something her brother was more than happy to do to the best of his ability.

The CSK training camp was about to start in a few days and Mahi had planned to announce his retirement from international cricket just before leaving with a simple Instagram post.

He didn't want to make a big deal about his retirement, so he had made a small video of his cricketing journey in the Indian Team with his favourite song, 'Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shair Hoon' playing in the background.

(I don't know how many times I wished that I was just having a nightmare that day.)

Mahi didn't want to distract Siya from her important commitments, so he had not informed her about his decision to retire from international cricket.

None of the present members of the Indian Cricket Team were informed about Mahi's decision either because he knew them well enough to know that if they hear about this, they will try everything to change his mind.

Mahi was sure that if his Cheeku and his Gudiya got together in trying to change his mind, he might actually be forced to listen to them.

Only his older brothers and teammates were aware of the decision because most of them understood where Mahi was coming from.

During the call, Sonu had surprised everyone by announcing that even he was going to retire on the same day as his captain and soul brother.

https://youtu.be/wRkIpEm1ZrY

(I just loved this video tribute for Chennai's Thala and Chinna Thala)

None of his teammates questioned him much, except Jammy Bhai, who just wanted to understand Sonu's thinking process, before supporting with his kid's decision.

Mahi didn't realise was that not informing his little sister about his retirement was going to prove to be the worst mistake he could have ever made.

~~~~~~~

On 15th of August, the world got a big shock when everyone saw MS Dhoni's Instagram post captioned 'Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired' with a video showing his journey as an Indian Cricketer.

(I was just trying to get over MSD's retirement announcement when Raina announced his retirement. Overall, it was a rough day.)

Siya was in college with special permission to complete some work, when she saw the news of her brother's retirement being discussed by many reporters.

At first, she assumed it was a rumour like the ones she had been hearing since the World Cup semi-final the previous year, until she saw his post herself.

Siya felt extremely betrayed and angry at her brother for doing something like this and decided to confront him about it before doing anything else.

When she arrived home, Siya was greeted by the sight of her brother having a conversation with her Cheeku Bhaiya and from the looks of it she understood that even he hadn't known about this decision.

This made Siya even more furious and she thunders, "Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, how dare you?"

Mahi almost jumps in his seat upon hearing the words, before turning around to find his little sister glaring at him with a murderous look.

Virat almost smirks at the scene because Siya being angry at someone usually meant disaster for that person.

He was almost glad that the young girl had sort of taken after him, when it came to showing her anger towards her loved ones.

Mahi nervously asks, "Bachha, when did you come back? Did you complete your work in college?"

Siya snaps, "Don't even try to change the subject Mr. Dhoni."

Mahi says, "Gudiya, listen to me plea-"

Siya cuts him off, "How can you announce your retirement like this? And on top of that, you never even told me or anyone else about it. You know you can still play, regardless of what the billion cricket experts of India say."

Cheeku adds, "Exactly what I've been trying to say for so long. Bhai, you are still very fit and you can still play cricket at the highest level. You should have at least told us about your retirement so that we could have planned something nice for you. We have all been waiting to play with you one more time, but you go ahead and announce your retirement."

Mahi replies, "I know how you feel, but try to understand-"

Siya looks at him with teary eyes and cuts him off, "No, you don't Mr. Dhoni. If you knew how we felt, then you would have informed us about your decision before announcing it to the world."

Mahi replies, "Gudiya, please stop calling me Mr. Dhoni. I'm your Bhaiya na?"

Siya shakes her head with a tear rolling down her cheek and says, "My Bhaiya wouldn't have let me find out about something so important about his life from the media."

Mahi calls after his sister, as Siya turns on her heels and leaves the room.

Virat feels bad for the way Siya was treating his Mahi Bhai, but somewhere he felt that the man needed to understand that his sudden decisions really hurt others.

Mahi hadn't informed anyone before stepping down from captaincy and that decision had hurt both Virat and Siya, but they chose to support him back then by ignoring their own pain.

Now this sudden retirement had brought back the painful memories from before.

Virat could see that his Mahi Bhai was hurt by his little sister's behaviour, so he decided to be a little lenient about his punishment for the man.

Mahi turns back to the screen and says, "Tujhe bhi kuch bolna hai toh bol de (If you also want to say something then go ahead)."

Virat smiles sadly and replies, "Siya ne saare points cover kar diye hai (Siya covered all the important points). I promise to support you, but on one condition."

Mahi looks confused and asks, "What condition?"

Virat replies, "When we meet for our match, you will come to the ground early and spend time with me. That will be only Mahi Bhai and Cheeku time."

Mahi chuckles lightly at the request and says, "Okay done."

They talk for some more time, before Virat leaves after promising his Mahi Bhai to talk their kiddos on the team and make them understand his decision.

Mahi smiles and thanks his Cheeku for being so mature about the situation, before Virat demands an ice cream treat for helping him with the kids.

~~~~~~~

The next couple of days Mahi tries talking to his little sister to explain his reasons because he thought that she was angry at his decision.

Siya, however, ignored her brother and gave him the silent treatment by running off with the excuse of her studies or playing with Ziva.

Mahi was miserable because this was the first time that his sister was acting out like this and he missed having his first daughter hover around him, like she normally did.

Siya didn't talk to her brother for a long time and even left for the NCA to train for her upcoming tournament once her college related work was completed.

Shubman had received a call from his best friend, through which he learnt about the entire situation.

Siya was extremely hurt because of some reason and Shubman tried his best to understand exactly what was going on in her mind.

Jammy Bhai had informed Mahi about Siya's arrival at the NCA and promised to look after her for however long she planned to stay there.

Once Mahi makes it to the CSK camp, Sonu also learns about the situation and tries to talk to Siya, who was mad at him as well after reading about his decision to retire with his captain.

Despite the unpleasant conversation with Siya, Sonu couldn't help but feel worse for his Mahi Bhai because the man looked miserable as he missed his sister.

Due to personal reasons, Sonu had to go back home to his family, but he made sure to call every day to keep tabs on his best friend.

A few days before the start of the matches, Sakshi arrived with Ziva and regretfully informed her husband about how Siya had refused to attend his matches.

Mahi was hurt by his sister's decision, but he kept his feelings aside to concentrate on his upcoming matches.

~~~~~~~

MSD did a pretty good job at boosting his little sister's confidence, before making the worst possible mistake he could ever make.

How long do you think Siya will stay angry at her beloved Bhaiya?

According to you, what is Siya really mad about?

Let me know what you guys think ✍🏻

Please vote ⭐