The entire stadium had their eyes fixed onto the screen. It all depended on this one word. There was an unusual pindrop silence echoing throughout the stadium and the eager eyes fixated on the television screens started to lose hope.

The three dreaded letters in the brightest red sprung up onto screen.

That was it.

They had lost.

A million heads hung low and none dared to look up.

If it weren't for the damned rain.

Their only hope walked off the field for the last time head hung low blinking furiously to stop the tears from flowing. The entire Indian dugout stared the incoming figure speechless. It was their dream to win it for him and they had failed on him the most. But the most hurt was the fighting soldier.

The soldier from Gujarat who stood for them all.

The one who got them so close yet so far.

Ravindra Jadeja - the fighting soldier and MS Dhoni where the only good things about that dreadful day.

The new batsman walked in fearfully, after all it was the MS Dhoni who had just got out and the morale of the opposition was soaring.

The match finished as they had expected, with them losing by only a small margin.

It was all over

Silence was not willing to move. It hung round like mist on a early winter's day.

"Virat, they're calling you for a conference." Their coach came and informed.

In no mood to argue , Virat dragged himself to the press conference ready to meet both eyes filled with fire and disappointment.

Only he knew how he pulled himself together for that dreaded interview.

40 minutes of bad cricket

If only it wasn't for those horrific 40 minutes.

*******

Silence prevailed throughout the day every second constantly chiding them that they had failed.

Failed to win for the country, failed a a billion hearts, failed to keep their dream, failed their older brother.

Their common dream to win a world cup as a team was shattered.

Their aching hearts screamed, wailed, cried yet not a single tear was shed.

Nobody had even dared to look the lone soldiers in the eyes. Especially not their Gujarat warrior.

*******
Not a single soul showed up for dinner.

It was true that every heart was aching. But not more than Ravindra Jadeja.

The one who stood up in the time of distress. The one who sparked hope in a billion hearts.

The one who was crying the most yet not crying at all.

He knew he'd be expecting someone, not like it would make anything better.

If he was to be completely honest, he was redeeming himself for the 2017 Champions trophy loss.

Was playing abroad just unlucky for them?

He drawled himself out of his cocoon and walked aimlessly to the terrace.

Collapsing onto the floor, he burried his head into his arms letting out silent sobs which slowly turned to shivers and whimpers.

He felt faint and light headed before his eyes closed sending him off into a deep slumber.

A despaired MS Dhoni stalked off late into that night desperately trying to find his soldier from Jamnagar, after trying to convince each of his lion cubs that it was ok.

Yes, he was hurt but it was ok. He was used to it by now. He knew very well how much this meant for his cubs.

They wanted to win it for him. Give him the best possible send off. He mentally knew that this was the last time he'd play in an international match and he was sure they did too - which made it all the harder for them to accept.

He sighed heavily finding the room empty.

Letting his legs take charge, he found himself frantically searching the hotel as if he was trying to find a lost puppy.

Ravindra Jadeja - his Jaddu - was definitely a lost a puppy at that moment.

Scared. Hurt. Broken. What not.

As he finally reached the terrace ending his search, his heart took a sigh of relief just at the sight of his kid. Yet again taking a heavy sigh at the sight of his kid all curled up into a ball trying to block out everything.

Yes, although Jaddu may not scream it to the world like any of the others did, he was just as special.

He admired the boy for his cheerful personality, goofy grin and hilarious tales and most importantly his determined spirit.

The boy who first came under his wing at the young age of 20 was always dear to him.

MS sat himself down next to his kid, running a hand through his hair affectionately.

The calmness that floated around the sleeping creature was so unusual that it caused MS to wince ever so slightly.

One thing he learnt about him was that he was much like himself, never showed his emotions openly.

MS caught sight of Jaddu's tear stained face. The same goofy grin that would make anyone crack up in laughter was no where to be seen. His red puffy eyes dominated and the mischievous glint he carried was long gone.

It pained MS deeply to witness his ever chirpy kid in such a state. Never did he think he'd witness this mischievous soul look so broken.Even 2017 didn't seem as bad compared to how miserable Jaddu looked now.

"Maybe because he knew I wasn't going to retire just yet," MS thought to himself regretfully.

It was then, when Jaddu tossed a bit in his sleep causing the MS to feel his burning skin.

He realised that Jaddu had put himself through the cold to block out all his emotions.

All his regret about that dive came flying back at high speed when he realised that this pure soul was ruining his well being.

Controlling the rapidly welling up tears, MS darted downstairs and bought up two blankets, completely unwilling to wake Jaddu up from his peaceful slumber.

He wrapped one around Jaddu and one around himself taking Jad into a cuddle letting him feel the warmth.

Both physically and emotionally.

He closed his eyes too retiring for the day, under the cold British air blocking out all negativity for a while.

The well needed peace that both of them craved for so desperately.

*******
Firstly Merry Christmas, Shub Vaikunth Ekadasi and Gita Jayanthi to everyone out there❤️❤️

Ok I updated this story after ages and honestly I think it was terrible but I wanted to type it up anyways. I literally deleted and rewrote parts of the chap about 5 times.

If any of you were waiting for this update, then here it is. I'll try upload more regularly.

And also if anyone is better at making book covers, feel free to make one for this book too!