Aarav woke up before the alarm.
That never happened on match days.
For a moment, he lay still, staring at the ceiling, trying to locate the feeling in his chest. It wasn't anxiety. It wasn't excitement either.
It was awareness.
The kind that comes after a reminder.
---
The bus ride to the stadium was quieter than usual.
Some players had headphones on. Others stared out the window. Bangalore traffic crawled past, indifferent to the fact that an IPL match was happening tonight.
Kallis sat beside him, stretching his fingers slowly.
"You sleep?" he asked.
"Enough," Aarav replied.
Kallis nodded. No follow-up. He understood what "enough" meant.
---
## IPL MATCH – RCB vs MUMBAI INDIANS
Venue: Bangalore
The stadium roared like it always did.
But Aarav noticed something different this time.
He wasn't listening to it.
---
RCB batted first again.
Dravid and Kallis started well. Not fast. Just solid.
When the first wicket fell, Aarav stood up immediately. No hesitation.
As he walked out, he told himself one thing.
*Don't fix yesterday. Play today.*
---
### At the crease
The first ball was a good length delivery.
He defended it.
And something clicked.
The bat met the ball cleanly.
That sound.
That feeling.
It hadn't left him after all.
---
He didn't chase boundaries early.
Singles to third man.
Soft pushes into the covers.
A gentle clip off the pads.
Mumbai tried to slow him down.
They bowled wide.
They held men back.
He let them.
---
After ten balls, Kallis spoke.
"Now," he said softly.
That was the signal.
---
The next over, slightly overpitched.
Aarav leaned into it and drove through cover.
Not hard.
Perfectly.
The crowd rose without being asked.
---
A short ball followed.
This time, he waited.
Pulled it late.
Along the ground.
Four more.
No anger.
No statement.
Just correction.
---
By the time the powerplay ended, he was breathing freely again.
The game had come back to him.
---
### The moment he felt whole again
Mumbai brought on spin.
He stepped out once, just to show intent.
Didn't hit a boundary.
But the bowler noticed.
The field changed.
That was enough.
---
He reached fifty with a single.
No helmet raise.
No glance at the crowd.
Just a deep breath and a look toward the dugout.
Dravid was standing.
Kallis clapped once.
That meant more than noise.
---
He eventually fell trying to push the rate.
Caught at long-on.
But as he walked back, there was no heaviness this time.
No second-guessing.
Just acceptance.
---
Twenty balls later, RCB finished strong.
They won that night.
But Aarav remembered something else.
---
Back in the dressing room, while removing his pads, Dravid walked past and stopped.
"You didn't rush," he said.
Aarav looked up.
"That's growth."
---
Later, alone again, Aarav smiled for the first time in two days.
The bad night hadn't broken him.
It had taught him something quieter.
Form comes and goes.
But trust—
Trust is built in moments like this.
And tonight, he had earned his back.