H.I.T.T.E.R

"I bet that's going for a six" I could here Saurav saying. His eyes were glued towards the ball which was soaring up towards the boundary.I was'nt surprised to see the perplexed faces of the fielding team.

The batting team had managed a miraculous chase and emerged victorious.Morover, the guy who hit the six was the man of the moment.He was a promising batsman.I would be lying if I said he was less than Tendulkar.Infact, we used to denote him by the name "Hitter".It is as silly as it sounds.He used to play everyday.We both had been watching the nail biting match since afternoon.The sun was ready to bid goodbye for that day.Both teams were commencing to leave the ground.

The ground was quite big.Infact, so big that 2 or 3 matches could be played at the same time.
Sitting on the wall and following the matches; we were accustomed to it.On a sad note, we were'nt allowed to play.We were resent about it.All those who played were aged near 20 while we had just entered teenage.

One day while watching a monotonous ongoing match, we were surprised to see Hitter( thats what we called him) strolling towards us."Why do you think he is coming?" asked saurav. I turned and saw the trepidation on his face. Before i could say anything, a voice spoke " hey guys!wanna play game of cricket?".My eyes danced with delight.
"why not?thank you very much. But dont expect us to play like you, " i admitted.
"not a problem,come on"he said.I can never forget that day.

I noticed he did'nt turn up the next day.Infact he was not seen for quite a long time.

Few years later, we were the rulers of the ground.Gone were the days of sitting on the wall and waiting for a chance.

One evening, i saw someone sitting on the same old wall and watching us play.When i got nearer i discoverd it was Hitter.He greeted with a smile and said" So you are the key player now, aren't u?".
" I am no way nearer to you, where were you all these years?" i asked. He remained silent.

" okay, forget it, let us play a game now. U will come,won't u?" I demanded with a sarcastic smile on my face.
It was a few moments before he answered " you play,i'll watch".
"No, u must play" my tone began to change.
"alright alright im coming" he said.
"thats more like it"I was pleased and excited.
I turned around and started walking towards the pitch. something made me turn back for a moment.I saw him standing with a distinguished look on his face.

He cleared his voice, reached down to his right leg and began rolling up the trousers.In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attached to a specially designed shoe.I had'nt noticed it at all." I dont have a proper leg buddy. some drunk car driver ran over it. I can't run properly. you must not be stupefied if i ask you to be my byrunner "he said grinning.
I remained openmouthed as he spoke those words....