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The above video is of Mahi giving a speech at the felicitation ceremony for his Rahul Bhai

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This is a little something about Mahi and his Rahul Bhai based around the dark phase of ICT

PS: Baby Samit will be making an appearance here

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The entire team was stunned by the unexpected changes in the selection of the players, particularly the fact that of all people, Sourav Ganguly had been dropped from the side.

No one was happy with the way things were going on around them and knowingly or unknowingly, Rahul had ended up taking the brunt of everyone's anger.

With his friends not particularly happy with him for the recent events along with the retaliation of sorts from the youngsters, the man had started second guessing every single one of his own decisions.

It was getting difficult for him to figure out if what he was planning was really for the betterment of the team.

Now that he didn't really have anyone to bounce his ideas off of, Rahul often found himself alone at night thinking about what he could do to make everything better.

The team, that once was like a big happy family, now seemed to be breaking apart and there was nothing that the captain could do to truly stop it.

Once he realised that he was not getting anywhere with the senior youngsters, Rahul threw himself into taking care of the newbies coming in and helping them get adjusted with the others to the best of his ability.

Luckily there was one youngster, who might be more experienced compared to their newer teammates but in essence was still like a newbie, that actually talked properly to the captain despite everything that had happened.

Rahul was eternally grateful to have Mahi's support during what was definitely one of the worst storms that he had ever had to face in his life.

The kid would also show up unexpectedly when the captain would be lost in his own thoughts and just sit with him without saying a word.

Rahul and Mahi were both men of few words, but the silence between them never felt uncomfortable.

The two of them would sit together in silence or sometimes would be talking about any random topic like Mahi's favourite sports bikes, something Rahul had found that the boy was really passionate about.

Mahi never forced him to talk about his thoughts, but he was always there to help Rahul cope with the loneliness that now plagued him.

Despite hating how things had turned out in the past few months, Rahul couldn't help but feel grateful for the events because it had led to him forming a special bond with their young wicketkeeper batsman.

~~~~~~~

During their first team meeting without Sourav, Rahul was trying to get the boys to listen to him, but none of the seniors seemed to be really interested in paying much attention to the captain.

The newbies all sat attentively while Mahi, who was sitting right next to his Bhai, frowned at the shear audacity of his friends to disrespect their captain and elder brother like this.

Rahul closes his eyes and pinches his nose in annoyance when his attempts to get the attention of his team continue to fail.

Just then he hears a loud voice from a rather unexpected source and immediately looks up in shock.

Mahi had banged his hand angrily on the table before he loudly says, "Shut up. Rahul Bhai is trying to say something here."

There was a pin drop silence after Mahi's outburst because no one had ever heard the boy talk at a higher volume, let alone almost shout in a rather public setting.

Mahi looked rather pleased with the effect he had and turns to his captain with a soft smile before gesturing for him to continue.

Rahul took a few moments to regain his senses after the way the kid seemed to have flipped a switch from an angry young man to the sweetest, most innocent boy ever, before he started the meeting as he had originally planned to.

~~~~~~~

After the series at home against Sri Lanka, everyone left to spend some time at home before their next series in Pakistan.

The captain was getting ready to leave himself when he spotted one of the boys looking at him rather expectantly.

Rahul walks up to the kid and asks, "Kya hua Mahi?"

Mahi shifts nervously and replies, "Kuch nahi Bhai. Woh bas main soch raha tha ki aapke ghar pe thoda time spend karu. Maine Maa se baat karli hai aur unko koi problem nahi hai. Agar aapko koi problem nahi hai toh main aapke saath hi chalu?"

Rahul raises and eyebrow and asks, "Aur tumhe kyu aana hai mere ghar?"

Mahi softly replies, "Woh mujhe champ se milna tha. Aap nahi the toh main Bhabhi ko pareshaan nahi karna chaahta tha pehle. Please Bhai."

Rahul couldn't help but smile at the boy's mature response and says, "Chal. Vijeta bhi khush ho jaayegi tujhe dekh kar."

Mahi's face instantly lights up and he immediately picks up both their luggage and quickly runs out to the cab that his Bhai had arranged for himself.

Rahul comes out after taking care of everything at the hotel and asks, "Waise Mahi, tumhare ticket ka kya?"

Mahi smiles proudly and replies, "Woh toh main pehle ki karwa diya tha aapke saath jaane ke liye. Aap chinta naa karo."

Rahul asks, "Aur agar maine mana kar diya hota toh?"

Mahi grins and replies, "Toh Bhabhi ko phone karke apni baat manwa leta. Woh toh bahut hi excited thi jab maine unko apne plan ke baare me bataya tha."

Rahul shakes his head a little as he laughs before the two men get inside the car and make their way to the airport.

~~~~~~~

Back in Bangalore, Vijeta was taking care of her newborn son when she heard someone coming her way.

Rahul clears his throat and asks, "Are you up for a visitor?"

Vijeta nods so her husband moves aside to let the kid inside the room.

Mahi hugs his Bhabhi and says, "Bhabhi, I missed you so much. How are you?"

Vijeta smiles and replies, "I'm fine. Come meet Samit."

Mahi sat excitedly on a nearly chair as his Bhabhi brought his nephew over and helped him hold the baby.

Vijeta guides her Devar on how to support the baby's head to ensure that he was comfortable in his Chachu's arms while Mahi looks a little nervous.

Rahul couldn't help but smile at how the kid's expressions changed upon catching sight of his son.

Samit ended up smiling once he caught sight of his Chachu's face while Vijeta quicky brought out the camera to click a few pictures of the cuties.

Rahul felt truly blessed to have Mahi by his side because he might not have been able to deal with everything that had been happening if it wasn't for this one kid.

He remembered how excited all the boys were when Sana was born and the entire team had shown up at Dada's house to meet the baby girl.

Rahul had felt sad about his son not getting the same chance, but the fact that Mahi chose to spend his time off with them instead of Ranchi meant the world to him.

With the way things were at the moment, the captain didn't have much hope for reconciliation anytime soon, but with the support of this one special kid, the tough times felt somewhat bearable.

For now, Rahul was content with spending his time with the three people who were still by his side and worry about everything else later.

~~~~~~~

Soon enough, Sourav makes a comeback in the Indian side and the team environment gradually improves.

Despite having his Dada back, Mahi sticks to his Rahul Bhai's side as everyone realises their mistake in ignoring the man and apologise to him.

It takes time but eventually the team becomes somewhat recognisable to everyone when tragedy strikes once again.

They had been knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage and nobody back home was happy with this result.

While Sourav, Anil and Sachin were busy taking care of the other kids, Rahul spent all his time with Mahi.

Once again, the two men didn't talk much about what was bothering them and instead either sat in silence or talked about random things.

The other seniors knew about how people had been reacting in Ranchi so no one really said much about the two quiet men spending a lot of time together, but Sourav couldn't understand why his best friend chose to ignore the rest of the kids.

Afterall it wasn't like his Jam to play favourites, especially when they were all going through such a difficult phase.

~~~~~~~

The team was making plans about what they wanted to do after going home when Sachin announced that it was time for them all to finally meet Dravid junior.

Everyone understood that this plan was just meant to help the team try and regroup after going through such a turbulent period in their careers.

Obviously, Rahul didn't mind them coming, but he first asked his wife if she was up to handle the hurricane that his team always seemed to bring along with them before confirming the plan.

Mahi looked forward to meeting his little champ and excitedly packed his bags with his Bhai while Rahul simply smiled at his excitement.

It didn't take long for the team to get ready as they made their way to the airport to board their flight back home.

No one in the team actually knew about the fact that Mahi had already met Samit before unlike the rest of them and Rahul didn't feel like telling them either.

~~~~~~~

The youngsters entered the Dravid family home in their signature fashion, only to be shushed almost immediately by their Bhabhi.

Vijeta whisper yells, "Quiet all of you. Samit is sleeping and if any of you wake him up then you'll be answering to me."

Everyone immediately goes silent while Rahul looks confused and asks, "Why is he sleeping now? He's not sick, is he?"

Vijeta replies, "I told him that you're coming today and that boy was so excited that he barely slept a wink last night. He practically crashed after an early lunch today. Now settle down all of you. I'll get you some snacks."

Rahul nodded and helped everyone get settled while Mahi quickly ran into the kitchen to help out.

Everyone sat down with a cup of tea and was catching up with each other when the seniors ask to see some pictures of baby Samit.

Vijeta notices the time and says, "Rahul, can you bring Samit down now? If he sleeps any longer then he won't sleep at night again. Mahi, can you help me get Samit's baby book and the other albums?"

Rahul nods before running up to Samit's room while Mahi follows his Bhabhi to help her bring out the baby book that the parents had been maintaining.

It doesn't take long for Rahul to return with his sleepy son who was still busy rubbing his eyes to really notice all the new people in his home.

Just then Mahi and Vijeta return with the photo albums and place them next to the rest of the team as they all pick one up to see.

Sourav and Sachin decided to sit with Vijeta as she was showing them all the baby book she had been updating for her son.

Rahul gets his son to drink a bottle of milk and finally Samit manages to properly open his eyes to see the team sitting in the room.

The baby looked a little uncomfortable with all the eyes on him until he catches sight of his favourite person (after his parents of course) and excitedly calls out, "Chachu"

Mahi grins as he makes his way to his nephew before taking the baby in his arms and the two of them start their usual conversations.

Everyone looks stunned so Rahul explains, "Samit has actually met Mahi before"

Just then Vijeta turns over to the page which had a picture of Mahi holding baby Samit, who looked like he was barely a few weeks old.

Sourav points to the picture and asks, "When was this one taken?"

Vijeta smiles and replies, "Around the end of 2005, I think. Mahi had decided to tag along with Rahul. I feel like this boy just stays here whenever he's free."

Sachin looks confused and asks, "How did we never know about this?"

Rahul replies, "We weren't exactly on talking terms back then. After that it never really came up."

Meanwhile the youngsters were trying to gain the attention of the little boy, but Samit didn't pay much attention to them.

Soon enough the seniors decided that they needed to intervene before a major fight broke out because Mahi had just started bragging about being the favourite Chachu.

It certainly didn't help when Samit decided to kiss his Chachu on the cheek before wrapping his arms around Mahi's neck.

Rahul couldn't help but chuckle at the familiar sight of Samit and Mahi together while his friends couldn't understand since when their usually mature kid had started acting like the rest of the brats.

The youngsters started whining about the injustice in this situation while Mahi just smirked proudly.

Vijeta tries her best to diffuse the tension and decides to hold her son instead of letting one of the boys do it.

Eventually Samit started enjoying the attention from all the youngsters, but he would still reach for his Mahi Chachu after some time.

~~~~~~~

The Indian team was still in England after the end of their series there when the captain sat alone just thinking about his next move.

Rahul was frustrated with how things were with the Board and he felt that maybe it was time for him to make some tough calls.

His tenure as captain hadn't started off on a good note and it had taken quite some time for things to finally get better.

Rahul was just thinking about everything, he didn't notice someone entering his room and taking a seat right next to him.

Just then he noticed a cup of tea being offered to him and looked up to find Mahi smiling at him with another cup in his other hand.

Rahul looks slightly confused and asks, "What are you doing here so late?"

Mahi replies, "Couldn't sleep so I decided to check up on you. Your door was open which meant that you're still awake and I also realised that we haven't have our special chai hangouts for quite some time."

Rahul smiles and says, "Come on then. If I'm being honest then I've also missed having them."

Mahi quickly takes a seat and excitedly asks, "So what are we talking about today?"

Rahul takes a sip and replies, "I've just been thinking about my role and responsibilities. Lately I haven't been able to make a lot of contributions with the bat, so I was thinking about letting go of captaincy."

Mahi appears to be in deep thought before he asks, "Are you sure about it?"

Rahul replies, "I want to focus mainly on my batting. That's not going to be possible if I also have the responsibility of leading the side."

Mahi gives him a sceptical look and asks, "Are you sure that's the only reason for this decision?"

Rahul sighs and replies, "What's the point of me continuing as captain now? It's not like I've done something revolutionary like Sourav."

Mahi takes a deep breath and says, "I agree that you didn't do anything crazy like Dada, but that doesn't mean that you haven't done something great. We've performed so much better with you giving us clear instructions on what you expect from us. Sure, we lost in the World Cup, but that doesn't mean that you weren't good enough as captain."

Rahul sadly replies, "But people will always remember that World Cup only."

Mahi argues, "Since when do you care about what people say? You only taught me not to pay much attention to the outside noise. That's why I've only ever paid attention to whatever you told me. If you hadn't scolded me that day, I probably wouldn't have understood how to play as per the team's needs."

Rahul asks, "Don't you think that I scolded you a little too harshly?"

Mahi shakes his head and replies, "Absolutely not. You gave me a proper wake up call. It doesn't matter what people think because I know that you did your best. Bhai, you made us believe that we can chase any target, no matter how big."

Rahul softly asks, "Do you really think that I did well?"

Mahi replies in an equally soft voice, "Yes Bhai. You did really well. People might not remember all your contributions, but they've made a world of difference in this team."

Rahul gets teary eyed because of how honest the kid sounded before pulling him in for a hug and whispers, "Thank you for being with me Mahi."

Mahi just smiles and gives his Bhai a quick squeeze before both of them pull away.

~~~~~~~

So how is this little story with my two favourites?

A lot of people talk about how great Dada was and the wonderful things that Mahi managed to accomplish, but they tend to ignore the contributions made by Dravid between these two captains. If you really think about it, Mahi wasn't just Dada's successor, but also Rahul's. He carried the legacy of both his former captains in what he did once he got the job.

Also, why should Rahul the captain only be remembered for what happened in the 2007 World Cup? He led India to test victories in West Indies and England after decades and helped his team believe that they could chase down any target.

MS Dhoni the finisher was practically created by Dravid who once said that 'No one can bat like MS at number 6'

I was actually talking with a friend about my favourite male cricketers when I was made to realise that I've kinda got a type. Apparently, a lot of MSDians also like Rahul Dravid almost just as much. Considering both were men of few words who were always willing to do whatever was necessary for the team with almost no regard for their own well-being, I have to agree that these two men are eerily similar in certain aspects. Not to forget they're both green forest men who married women born on the 19th of November (This is something I actually realised just recently)

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