Hey guys 👋🏻

Thank you for choosing to read this story

Here's a fun MSD speech for you guys to enjoy

https://youtu.be/DcWXzU734KI

I hope you guys shower the same amount of love on this new story just like you have on my other books

The above song is 'Hind Mere Jind' from the movie 'Sachin: A Billion Dreams'

If you like this story then please vote, comment and share with your friends

~~~~~~~

Sid and Dev have made it to the state team together

Will they also be able to make their debut together?

~~~~~~~

During the domestic season, Sid and Dev manage to catch the attention of the national selectors who were looking for a few young players to play in the next Under-19 World Cup.

The boys were much younger than the others who had already been selected, but their skills were something that could not be ignored.

After watching Sid and Dev over the course of a few months, the selectors decided to make an exception for them to play in the Under-19 squad at the age of 15.

Soon the boys receive letters from the board informing them about their selection and instructing them to join the team training camp.

Mrs Shergill was worried about her little boy staying away from her for the first time in his life, which was a matter of grave concern for her son.

Sid talked to Naina about the situation and his best friend offered to have a chat with his mother to help her.

~~~~~~~

The next day Naina visited Mrs Shergill while the boys were out playing.

After exchanging some pleasantries, Naina nervously says, "Aunty mujhe aapse kuch zaroori baat karni thi."

Mrs Shergill smiles and replies, "Ha beta. Bolo kya baat hai."

Naina says, "Sid mentioned that you were worried about him going for the team training camp with Dev. Bas uske baare me hi baat karni thi."

Mrs Shergill sighs and replies, "I should have known Sid would talk to you about it. Bas tujhe hi toh sab kuch batata hai who ladka. Dev se bhi kuch cheeze chhupa sakta hai lekin tujhse nahi."

Naina says, "Par aunty aap pareshaan kyu hai? Sid ko apna khayaal rakhna aata hai, unlike Dev. They both play well that's why they have been selected."

Mrs Shergill replies, "Yeh sab main jaanti hu. I have watched all three of you grow up right in front of me, so I know you kids very well."

Naina asks, "Toh fir kya baat hai?"

Mrs Shergill replies, "Maa ka dil apne bachhe ko khud se door karne ke liye nahi maanta. I know that Sid is very self-sufficient and that he will take good care of himself. Pehle jab woh apne Papa ki tarah army join karne wala tha toh main jaanti thi ki 18 saal tak toh yeh mere saath rahega. Dar lagta tha ki kahi isse kuch ho na jaaye, jaise Major Sahab ki bhi tension hoti hai, lekin yeh jaanti thi ki school khatam hone se pehle Sid ghar chhod ke nahi jaayega. He hasn't even turned 16 now and he's going for a training camp. Mujhe garv hai ki woh desh ke liye khelega lekin shayad main apne bete se alag hone ke liye taiyaar nahi hu."

Naina finally understands and says with a smile, "Aunty, aap toh khaamakha pareshaan ho rahi hai. Aapka ladla beta chaahe poori duniya kyu na ghumle, lekin usko sukoon toh aapki god me apna sar rakhke hi milta hai. No matter how old he is, Sid will always look for you when he wants to be comforted. You are the most important person in his life aur abhi woh khud nahi bol raha hai lekin woh khud bhi thoda dara hua hai aapse door rehne ke khayaal se."

Mrs Shergill chuckles lightly and replies, "Main iss bewakoof se baat kar lungi. Beta, thank you for talking to me about this. Sid se shayad nahi bol paati lekin tujhse baat karke achha laga. Hamesha aise hi mere bete ka saath dena. Usko shayad pata bhi nahi hai lekin woh tujhe pasand karta hai."

Naina stutters nervously, "Arre aunty kaisi baat kar rahi hai aap? Sid toh kisi bhi ladki ki taraf dekhta bhi nahi hai."

Mrs Shergill smiles and says, "It's okay to talk to me about your feelings for Sid. Maa hu main uski, achhe se jaanti hu apne bete ko. Apne Papa pe gaya hai na, toh apne dil ki baat keh nahi pata. Talk to him about this once and I'm sure that he'll do his best to confess his own feelings."

Naina smiles shyly and replies, "I'll do my best aunty but after this World Cup. Abhi usse cricket par focus karne do."

Mrs Shergill caresses the little girl's face and says, "I wish for you to fulfil all your dreams, Beta. Tere se behtar dost mere bachhe ko nahi mil sakti. But talk to him when they come back. Warna mera ladla beta zindagi bhar kuch nahi bolega."

Naina smiles and agrees before leaving for her own house.

Soon Sid enters the house and the mother son duo talk about the upcoming training camp, with Sid keeping his head in his mother's lap.

Mrs Shergill talks about her feelings while Sid finally confesses about all of his fears to his mother.

The mother son duo manages to help each other get over their fears and concerns by talking to each other.

~~~~~~~

A few months later, Sid and Dev find themselves at the training camp for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup.

The two boys earned a few confused looks from their teammates who couldn't understand what was so special about them.

With time everyone learnt what exactly made the two boys so special that they had been considered for the team.

The coaches noticed that Sid was much more focused and decided to add him to the playing eleven for the upcoming series.

A few days later the head coach calls for a team meeting to announce the same to all the players.

They had been announcing the players being considered in the playing eleven, so the players knew what the meeting for about and were very excited.

The head coach does a roll call before he says, "Okay so after watching you practice, we've decided to add Siddharth to the playing eleven. Congratulations kid."

Sid calmly replies, "Thank you sir, but I refuse to play a single match without Dev."

Dev immediately turns to his best friend and says, "Are you crazy? Why am I even asking this? I know that you are."

Sid simply shrugs in response after which the head coach asks, "May I know the reason for this decision of yours Siddharth?"

Dev looks at his best friend expectantly as he replies, "Because I wouldn't be playing cricket if it wasn't for him. I had planned to be a soldier like I thought my father wanted and if it wasn't for my best friend, I wouldn't have even considered playing cricket professionally. So, I will accept a spot in the playing eleven only and only when you consider Dev as well."

The head coach smiles softly and says, "I appreciate your loyalty to your best friend. I'll be keeping an eye on Dev's performance this week because I have a feeling that you'll be pushing him hard. See you boys at practice."

Once everyone starts leaving Dev turns to his best friend and says, "Idiot, yeh sab karne ke kya zaroorat thi."

Sid calmly replies, "Zaroorat toh nahi thi lekin main tujhe peeche chhodne nahi wala. That's not my style and you know it. Chal ab practice karne. Sir said na that he'll keep an eye on you now so you better start working hard."

Dev shoots his best friend a look and says, "I hate you"

Sid pats him on the back and smugly replies, "I know. Chal ab. Time for practice."

Dev watches his best friend walk towards the ground and mutters a few curses for the crazy boy he grew up with.

If he was to be completely honest, he wasn't really surprised to hear Sid's answer because he has known that crazy boy for years.

Sid always fought for his loved ones, regardless of how unreasonable he was being because he wanted to feel worthy of the trust they had on him.

Dev knew that his crazy best friend always valued trust in all his relationships, which was one of the main reasons for him having a very small group of close friends.

If Sid couldn't trust someone, he would always maintain a distance from the person, even if that person happened to be one of his blood relatives.

~~~~~~~

One the other side, there was another kid who felt extremely jealous of the fact that one of the youngest members of their squad was being given a chance in the playing eleven.

To make matter worse, that stupid kid actually turned it down because he refused to play without his best friend.

Gaurav just couldn't understand how stupid that Siddharth kid could be to refuse a chance to make his own career for friendship.

Was his friendship with the other kid more valuable than his own career? What would he do if he isn't offered a spot in the team again?

Gaurav also hated how people around him always praised that kid rather than paying more attention to other players like him.

There wasn't anything so special about that stupid kid that the coaches had to ignore most of the other players just to watch him go about his routine.

Somehow none of his teammates found anything wrong with the coaches paying extra attention to the kid.

Gaurav wasn't happy with the way things were, but he also couldn't voice his opinions because that would lead to him being isolated by everyone.

He just hoped that his teammates would soon wake up to reality and see that Siddharth didn't really deserve all the extra attention that he got.

~~~~~~~

Within the next week, the coaches all saw Sid pushing his best friend to improve on his shortcomings.

They were quite surprised to see the young kid figure out exactly what his best friend's shortcomings were and helped him work on them.

Soon the playing eleven for the next match was announced with Dev also in the team because all the coaches could see how much the boy had improved.

Over the next few months, Sid even helped some of his other teammates work on a few skills after watching them in the matches they played to prepare for the main tournament.

The team performed pretty well in the matches leading up to the Under-19 World Cup, so that coaches decided to give them a few days off to visit their families.

~~~~~~~

Just before leaving for home, Sid had learnt from his mother that his father was also back from him latest mission and he was suddenly nervous about telling his father about him not writing his board exams with the rest of his classmates.

The boy had no clue that his mother had already informed his father about the same and that the man was okay with it, as long as his son didn't slack off because of his growing cricket career.

One of the team coaches also had a quick chat with Major Shergill regarding Sid's potential and the possibility of him getting selected to play in the Indian team if he did well in the upcoming tournament.

Major Shergill listened to everything calmly and replied that he trusted his son to perform well for his country and team, without really caring about his own career.

The coach understands why Sid was so loyal towards his best friend when they had first selected only him in the playing eleven.

Over time he and the other coaches had even observed that the young kid was extremely devoted to his team's best interests.

After looking at his military background and learning about his father's views of country first, the coaches were sure that Sid was destined to achieve great heights in his cricket career.

~~~~~~~

Sid and Dev reach home a few days later because their head coach had organised a small informal interaction for them with the present Indian captain.

Both the boys were a little concerned about the reaction Sid's father would have upon hearing about them missing their exams for the upcoming World Cup.

Dev decided to accompany his friend when he faced his father like a supportive best friend even though he was terrified of the man.

The boys entered the Shergill house where Major Shergill was sitting with his wife and they were enjoying their evening tea together in the parlour.

Sid coughed lightly to get their attention, before nervously asking his father for permission to enter the room.

Dev followed his best friend and stood right behind him while trying to support Sid in his quest to inform his father about the upcoming tournament.

Major Shergill knew exactly what his son wanted to tell him, but he still asks in his gruff voice, "Do you have something to tell me, son?"

Sid almost panics thinking about his father already knowing about the topic and being disappointed with him, so he replies, "I just wanted to talk to you about my upcoming cricket tournament. Dev and I have been selected to represent India at the Under-19 World Cup."

Major Shergill says, "Your mother told me about your selection. Representing our country is a privilege and now it is your duty to work hard so that you give your best performance for the team. I hope you haven't forgotten about what we talked about the last time you told me about your selection."

Sid replies, "I know that India and my team should always come first. Bas woh World Cup ki dates ke baare me batana hai. Board exams ke saath clash ho raha hai toh humko exams baad me dena padega. I promise that I won't compromise with my studies and I'll work just as hard after we come back."

Major Shergil says, "Your coaches have already informed me about this. Naina also assured me that she will help you both later just like she's been helping you get your study material throughout the year. I trust you both to do well in your exams once you come back. Your studies should not suffer due to any reason. That is not something that I will tolerate. Same goes for you Dev. You better not fail your exams just because you were too focused on your cricket career."

The boys immediately reply in a synchronised tone, "Yes Sir"

Major Shergill nods and says, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to get to. Spend some time with your mother, son."

Sid and Dev watch as Major Shergill leaves the house before turning to Mrs Shergill and ask, "What just happened?"

Mrs Shergill chuckles and replies, "You boys were scared for no reason. Sid, tumhare Papa aisi cheez ke liye kabhi naa nahi bolenge. Major Sahab toh kabhi bolenge nahi, but he's really proud of you."

Sid asks, "Woh chodo aur yeh batao ki aapne mujhe pehle kyu nahi bataya ki aapke Major Sahab ko pata hai?"

Mrs Shergill smirks and replies, "Bas aise hi. I wanted to have some fun."

Sid whines, "Maa. Aapko pata hai ki mujhe kitna dar lag raha tha itne dino se?"

Mrs Shergill pulls her son close and says, "Sorry Beta. I won't do something like this again, promise."

Sid smiles a little before hugging his mother back while Dev complains, "Mujhse toh koi pyaar hi nahi karta."

Mrs Shergill chuckles lightly, holding her hand out and says, "Aaja tu bhi"

Dev smiles widely before joining in on the hug as Sid mutters, "Jealous people"

Mrs Shergill whacks her sin's head for his comment, before pulling both the boys close to her chest and kisses their foreheads lovingly.

Sid and Dev then proceed to tell her all about their meeting with the present Indian Captain.

Mrs Shergill didn't miss the way her son's eyes lit up as he talked about the captain of the senior team.

She had an inkling that the man had left a lasting impression on her young son and she was now curious to meet him in person to find out more about him.

~~~~~~~

The Under-19 team soon unite for their upcoming World Cup before they all travel together for their matches.

Sid remembers his father's words and does his best to contribute to his team in every possible way that he can.

More often than not during chases, Dev and Sid are the ones taking their team over the line together.

Their consistent heroics match after match earns them lots of fans and admirers around the world.

Rishi Gupta, the current Indian captain, was really impressed with the way the boys handled pressure and was considering the idea of selecting them for his team soon.

He even had a chat with the selectors to get the boys trained specially so that they could join the senior team soon.

Rishi was really looking forward to welcoming two new soldiers in his army of cricketers.

~~~~~~~

So looks like Sid and Rishi really admire each other.

Wonder what will their first official meeting be like?

Let me know what you guys think ✍🏻

Please vote ⭐