sanjana ganesan
pov

"Oh.my.god! Sanjanaaa!!!!! You are interviewing the Indian players and travelling with them this summer !!! Show some excitement girl !!" yelled my best friend and colleague Avyaan Sinha.

Yes! I am interviewing and travelling with the Indian cricket team this summer but it's not just me. Avyaan himself has also got this opportunity and we both along with the crew would be travelling with the team. We were the official broadcasters for the upcoming series and were being sent to catch the behind the scenes of the team. Our contracts were signed and were informed about all the rules by our head that we had to follow. The topmost being not disturbing or utilising time that is meant for the boys to train and many more such rules.

"Avyaan, even you are coming with me so stop acting like it's just me going," I exclaimed. No, I wasn't as thrilled as Avyaan but that didn't mean I wasn't excited. I was nervous to meet them or more specifically him. I was to interview the two players today and that's what made me all this nervous and giddy. I wasn't ready to face him after 8 years of no contact. I brushed away all these thoughts and let destiny play its game, let destiny do its work.

"Avyaan, when do we interview the boys? For the pre-series?" This is the interview that I was dreading. We were interviewing him, Jasprit Bumrah along with KL Rahul wanting to know how both the bowler group and batsmen were preparing themselves.

"Today, in about two hours from now, as you know it's KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah who would be our first guests." he said casually until he realised the two names he said, "Shit shit shit, Sanjana, you can skip if you want, I would cover up for you," he immediately offered. I would have agreed if it was a one time thing but how long would I ignore him. Eventually I would have to face him when we travel together or when I would be there for various segments and behind the scenes of the team.

"Avyaan, I can't run away. I would have to face him eventually today or tomorrow, so let me just get done with it," I said. "I am in my office and I will meet you in the recording room in sometime, is that alright?" I asked. We had to be there before the players and get ourselves ready with all the makeup, lights, etc. He agreed and I heard him ask someone to send my hazelnut coffee to my cabin. I don't know when and how time passed but it was my time to report for my job.

I entered the recording room and found the crew setting up the place with the lights and cameras while Avyaan seemed to be getting ready as he got out of the change room. I quickly got myself changed and ready with the make-up touch ups that were needed.

Stressed. Nervous. Anxious. Tense and much more, that's how I felt. I could feel the butterflies flutter in my stomach. But I guess this was it as I heard someone shouting that the two boys had arrived. We had the broadcasting rights for quite some time but this was the first time our team had got this opportunity and therefore anyone could feel the excitement in the air. I had done quite a few post match shows with retired players but had never met the current team which is why we haven't met until now.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down before plastering a smile on my face as I felt Avyaan's hand on my shoulder. Before he could say anything, I heard people rushing into the room with the two rising stars of the country who were talking among themselves and adorned the team India jersey. I gave Avyaan a reassuring smile and we both took our positions ready to take this on.

"Good evening sir," Avyaan said. Both the boys seemed to be startled when they heard 'sir' and looked at each other trying to confirm whether they really heard 'sir'.

"Please anything but sir, makes us feel old," Rahul addressed him while Jasprit just smiled agreeing to what Rahul had said. Both of them were yet to notice me and I was pretty sure he was not knowing that I would be here from their faces. I sighed, time for some shocks!

"Good evening,guys" I swear I haven't seen anyone turn their face this fast as I saw Jasprit looking at me with wide eyes and shock written all over the place. He stared at me with no emotions in his eyes, the eyes that I could once read like an open book. Everything around seemed to have disappeared for me, it seemed that it was just us standing in that room. He finally averted his eyes when Rahul nudged him and that broke the trance.

"Good evening," both of them muttered. The tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife but none of the crew members could point that out. We four stood there in awkward silence until the crew members gave us a thumb's up to start. We sat on our assigned seats and were good to begin.

"Lights. Camera. Action."

author's
pov

"Plenty of reasons to celebrate for the fans across the world because international cricket is returning for our favorite blues. Virat Kohli and his men are all set to take up their first international assignment in more than six months, aur jahan aapke favourite blues jaate hai,waha hum pahuch hi jaate hai. Hello everyone and welcome to our brand new series - Follow The Blues, where we your hosts Avyaan Sinha and I - Sanjana Ganesan - bring you more close to the your favourite stars,"

"Where we start our away from home series in less than a week, today we bring to you our rising stars. One who smashes every bowler with his bat whereas the other who doesn't allow the batsmen to smash with his amazing bowling skills. Welcome the very talented opener, KL Rahul and the bowler well known for his action, Jasprit Bumrah," Avyaan continues.Both men waved and smiled at the camera when they were introduced.

"In this episode, we get to know these two stars as well as the team through them. So, let's dive into it, first and foremost welcome to Follow the Blues," Avyaan welcomed the two who replied back with thank you's.

"As we all know, the team travels within a week to England for a series after a good six months, so how's the atmosphere in the dressing room?" Sanjana asked.

"It's pretty normal, the boys have been training hard and ready to take on this series," Rahul answered.

"I agree, the team is ready and the dressing room is like it always is before any series," Jasprit continued.

"So Rahul, how's it opening with the hitman and do you have any argument on who takes the strike first?" Avyaan asked.

"Opening with Rohit is absolutely wonderful. I mean just the way he times the balls and hits them perfectly is an art and I have started to adapt myself at the top. It's the captain's confidence in me that helps me too, just that belief that I can do it at the top, matters a lot. And about the strike then its him who always took the strike when I was new into the scene. But after a while, he was like, you also need to take the strike, he was actually annoyed at me," all of them laugh at the revelation.

"So how is it now?"

"Oh now, I have to take the strike every alternative match, until one of us wants to take the strike by ourselves," Rahul answered.

"That's awesome. Coming to you, Jasprit, how is the bowling group?" Sanjana asked.

" Competitive. And that's what encourages each one of us to be better. When I say competitive, I don't mean to say jealous of one another's success, I mean it in a way where we push the other to be the best." he answered but without any expressions.

"That's the best way to be as a group. But what I would like to know is, are there banters on and off the field?" Avyaan questioned.

"Oh yes! I mean it's natural for us to tease everyone on the field, it just keeps the environment lively and light," he smiled and answered.

"Off-field you won't find Jasprit. No one knows what he does to be honest," Rahul laughed as his best friend nudged him to shut his mouth.

"Ohhh! That's some tea there, so Mr. Jasprit Bumrah where can we find you after the match ha?" Avyaan jokingly asked as he raised his eyebrows at Jasprit. He just shook his head and laughed before replying, "He's joking, I would be there where the team is," clearly that was a lie. Everyone could tell but Avyaan let the matter go seeing that he wasn't going to get any juicy detail.

"The team is preparing well, but Rahul recently had a disaster off the field, the Koffee with Karan controversy. Tell us what has changed after that episode?

"Oh! I have stopped drinking coffee, that's what has changed." he joked trying to lighten the atmosphere as he hated addressing this issue, so he always started with a joke. "On a serious note, we both learnt that we don't answer everything that the host wants us to answer. Keep your mouth shut in front of some people who aren't intelligent enough. Our jokes were taken too seriously and it did affect our mental health, there's no denial in that but it was our fault too. We are public figures who inspire the youth, so we need to think wisely before we speak. Choosing your words carefully is the biggest lesson." Rahul sighs as he answers the question. He picked up the water bottle in front of him and took a sip to calm his head.

Sanjana gave him a break and turned towards Jasprit, "As a friend of both of them, what were the changes you saw in the duo, Jasprit?"

"They both have completely different personalities. Dealing with Harry - sorry - Hardik was easy as he was quite open and easy to deal with as he was quite open. While on the other hand, Rahul is someone who keeps things to himself. You need to understand his moods from the small things or rather clues that he gives. He did seclude himself for a while but a speech from Virat Bhai did knock some sense in his head," Jassi gave some details.

"Also, trolls were brutal, we somehow had convinced both of them to delete all social media apps but this guy didn't understand the instructions given," he added. Rahul just smiled at the trio sitting there and didn't say anything.

"Coming to you Jasprit, you are a star bowler and everyone expects you to win games. How do you handle the pressure of expectations?" Avyaan questioned.

"By not letting these things get to your head. On his day, every player can turn out to be a star but then it cannot always be like that, you have your own downs and no journey is complete without that. I try to maintain my cool and not think about the end result, nothing other than that can help you on the field, back your abilities and play one ball at a time," he answered.

"Rahul, how's your friendship with Hardik Pandya? And also, who helped you cope up with everything?" Sanjana asked quickly adding, "Umm, not a question by me, but the fans,"

"Haha, no problem Sanjana, I can understand the curiosity among everyone. But I don't understand why would people assume that our friendship would be affected by this, we all brothers and he is the same as he was before - the cool, funny and stupid, Hardik Pandya who eats my head with his talks. Well, everyone's head," everyone laughed at the description given.

"About coping up, then I was in constant touch with Hardik, since we both were going through the same situation we could relate and understand each other. The whole team was there to support and as mentioned early, I did get a solid speech or rather scolding from Virat, he was constantly there and so were everyone else," Rahul told.

"Coming back to the pressure, Jasprit, 2017 Champions Trophy. That no ball in the final match.How did it impact you? Did you blame yourself? Do you think about it now?" Avyaan again got back to Jasprit.

"I believe that wasn't my day. I have no answer to how it impacted me I believe. I had people around me who never lost their belief in me and that's what was important at that point-" he wasn't allowed to continue.

"You know what, I will answer that question. It wasn't easy for him. As I said, we don't find him off the field, that's exactly what happened that day. We couldn't find him. He's similar to me when it comes to trolls and that day was a lesson for all of us, we don't let the media or the fans affect us. He was young and trolled, made fun of. And no one would want that, so he ran away. It wasn't until 9pm when we realised he wasn't there in his room or the hotel. We had decided to have dinner together and were calling at his room but we got no answer, I remember everyone's face as clear as a crystal."

"Everyone was at the lobby waiting and calling him but this idiot had forgotten his phone in his room. He did get a tight slap from Hardik that day," Rahul laughed hard. "Oh not only Hardik, even Mahi bhai, he had everyone worried." Rahul said."You didn't need to say that, Rahul." Jasprit grumbled, slapping his arm. "Yeah, getting slapped by Hardik sounds hilarious and embarrassing," Rahul again started laughing.

"But that day, everyone understood that outside noise doesn't matter. You have to keep yourself confined to the people you trust otherwise you get slapped," Rahul couldn't help but add that in the end. "Oh you would get slapped if you don't stop laughing," Jasprit whispered, covering his mic which immediately made Rahul hold back his laughter as he didn't want to be slapped on national television and his best friend did sound serious.

"I did get my lesson that day, not only me, every youngster there got the message. You never run away from your problem and if you do inform someone before running away," Jasprit said.

"Ohkay, that brings us to the end of today's episode. Many interesting stories and lessons learnt. But but but, don't be saddened," Sanjana let Avyaan continue as the camera flipped to his smiling face. "You, fans, have much more coming your way. More interviews, behind the scenes, training sessions and some fun games, will be shared this summer with your favourite boys." Avyaan addressed the audience.

"Stay tuned, until next time guys. Signing off, your hosts, Sanjana Ganesan and Avyaan Sinha." ended Sanjana.

"And CUT! That was amazing Sanjana and Avyaan, great questions, you did your homework well" shouted the director.

The crew started their post shoot work while the four of them moved out of the room.

"Didn't we answer the questions properly?" Rahul whispered to Jasprit but the other two could hear him. Jasprit shrugged his shoulders not really caring about the interview as his mind was filled with something or rather, someone."

"Why do you ask? Your answers were inspiring," Sanjana questioned and also praised him.

"No, the director didn't say anything to us, that's why," Rahul said. "And, Jassiii, where are you lost?" he shook Jasprit who finally looked at Rahul as they walked through the long corridor.

"I ain't lost anywhere," he answered.

"Shall we just address the elephant in the room?" Avyaan asked. Rahul snickered beside Jasprit who was looking at Avyaan with wide eyes. He then looked at Sanjana who was ready to kill Avyaan with anything that came in her hand.

"Well, there's no elephant in the room. It's called past for a reason and I guess we are good, we can be cordial, we are mature enough to deal with our shit," Jasprit answered, he didn't want his past to be discussed.

"Exactly, Avyaan," Sanjana snickered. "By the way, how's my best friend?" she asked Jasprit, trying to start a conversation with him, she had to handle her personal life for her professional life and balance it well. "Good!" he answered in a single word, he wasn't ready to start the conversation. Yet.

"Can I get her number?" she asked pleading with her eyes, while Avyaan and Rahul just looked between the couple who were clearly awkward even if they won't admit it. Jasprit just nodded and recited the number to her. He looked at Rahul, "Can we leave now? We have a practice session to attend," Jasprit reminded. Rahul ignored the question instead asked a question in return, "Who's number was that?"

"My girlfriend!" Jasprit said. Sarcastically. But Rahul stood there with his mouth gaping, his mate was giving his ex girlfriend, his current girlfriend's number who was in return best friend of his ex girlfriend! Drama he internally screamed.

"Isn't it awkward?" he questioned both of them.

"Dumbass! You didn't take that seriously, did you!? Rahh! Stay away from Harry please, it would be a great help to the team!! And that was Jiya's number! Now please come, we can't be late!!" Jasprit almost screamed. Almost.

"Yeah, yeah. It was great knowing you both, see you soon on the tour," Rahul said.

"Yeah, thank you for having us, bye" Jasprit said and both the boys walked away.

"That was one hell of a meeting, the team is going to have a treat hearing that their dear Jassi, met someone special and even about all the glances that were passed between you two," Rahul told Jassi, who was ready to do anything but get teased by the team. Poor Jassi.

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⫷ 𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣'𝕤 ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕖 ⫸

Hey guyss

So here is the first chapter, a different start than all my other books. I usually would have started with Instagram post but went ahead with the interview style for this one.

Few characters introduced. Few questions answered. Few glances exchanged. What do you think about this chapter? How do you find the characters even tho it's a little early to ask.

No shit Sherlock! I wrote a 3000+ words! I hope you guys like it. Looking forward to some comments ❤️