It was the last over of the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament. Kapil Sharma took strike against his archrival Rahul Kapoor with only six runs required to lift the trophy for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He could now take revenge from Sourav Ganguly for thinking he was a failure. He could now show Rahul that he was a better batsman than him. He could now repay the faith his coach Daniel Vettori showed in him. He could now show his inspiration AB de Villiers that he could be a great cricketer like him. With lots on stake for Kapil, Rahul started in his runup to deliver the first ball to Kapil...

It was only six months ago that Kapil could be seen in the busy streets of Mumbai playing cricket with his friends. He was the opening batsman and captain of his local team, the Mumbai Strikers. Even with these dual responsibilities, Kapil was always on top of his game and led his team to victory in many games. However, Kapil wanted to grow as a player and saw the IPL, a famous T20 tournament in India, as a way to complete that goal. In the IPL, he could play with or against his role models, and the South African superstar AB de Villiers was on the top of his list.

Kapil’s fortunes took a turn one day when Sourav Ganguly, a Indian cricket legend, called his father to discuss his bright future. He wanted to meet with Kapil and see if he was ready for the “big stage.” In excitement, Kapil worked hard that afternoon to show Sourav that he had the skills to play in the IPL.

The next morning, Kapil and his dad went to Wankhede Stadium to meet Sourav Ganguly. In his excessive effort to impress Sourav, Kapil messed up his technique several times. Sourav was unimpressed by Kapil and decided to let Kapil practice for another year before helping him into the IPL. Even though Kapil felt insulted, he left the stadium with more motivation than ever to enter the IPL.

The next day, Kapil met a new aspiring cricketer named Rahul Kapoor, who had the same goals as Kapil. Seeing more competition in his way to the IPL, Kapil treated Rahul as his enemy and always tried to better Rahul in all cricket aspects. It became obvious to other teammates when both of them started batting in the nets. In a matter of a couple of minutes, the practice session became a head-to-head battle. Each boy tried to better the other’s shot and show that he was superior than the other. In one month, the enmity increased to the point where each boy did not want to hear the other’s name. When the long-awaited IPL auction finally arrived in three months, Kapil was selected by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and Rahul by the Mumbai Indians (MI).

Kapil was given a golden opportunity to learn about his favorite cricketers when his coach Daniel Vettori planned a week-long hiking trip on a nearby mountain for the team. Throughout the trip, Kapil heard many stories and learned about the personalities of the cricketing stars. The week flew by for Kapil and even though he wished the trip lasted longer, he knew it was game time.

In their first game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Kapil was selected into the playing eleven, on his local merit and promise in practice sessions. With a wide range of shots inspired from AB de Villiers, Kapil was the fifth batsman in the batting order, responsible for closing the innings with a bang. The rest of the team was as predicted:

Chris Gayle
Shane Watson
Virat Kohli
AB de Villiers
Kapil Sharma
KL Rahul
Kedhar Jadhav
Mitchell Starc
Yuzvendra Chahal
Varun Aaron
Harshal Patel

Even though there was much optimism for the RCB team, the entire team was out for paltry 89 on the back of Sunil Narine’s five wickets. Kapil was out for a golden duck. The KKR chased the target easily in 10 overs, as Gautam Gambhir made an unbeaten 52. Since it was only the first game of the tournament, Kapil was calm but knew he had to perform better.

In the next two games against the Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils, RCB continued losing, with Kapil scoring three consecutive ducks. It became extremely frustrating for Kapil, not only because he was not performing, but because Rahul was scoring half-centuries in each Mumbai Indians game.

Daniel Vettori gave Kapil one more opportunity against the Mumbai Indians, the team of his archrival Rahul. With extra motivation, Kapil scored a century off only 50 balls to power RCB to a massive total of 215. Even though Mumbai Indians were on a hot streak, they could not chase the target down. In the failed chase, Sachin Tendulkar made 52 and Rahul continued his good form with a century off 42 balls. Rahul was surprising everyone with his skills and seemed unstoppable at that moment. When Kapil and Rahul confronted each other after the game, they exchanged a few words.

Walking toward Rahul, Kapil yelled, “You like that?! You team got man-handled.”

“Today was your day. Next time, it's over for you and your team,” challenged Rahul to Kapil.

“We are just about that action, boss. We’ll see in the next game,” replied Kapil.

After the MI-RCB game, both teams went on a winning streak and reached the final of the IPL. Rahul was the highest scorer of the tournament with 1,009 runs, while Kapil was the third highest with 905. Both rookies impressed everyone with their unique skills. In the final, RCB won the toss and elected to field because of their unpredictable bowling unit. Both teams were unchanged as all eleven players were performing well.

Sachin Tendulkar and Aditya Tare came onto the field to start the proceedings for MI. In the first five overs, MI raced to 52/0 before Aditya got bowled by Chahal. Rahul came in at 3 and was bowled by Chahal on his first ball. It was the first time he was out for a duck for the first time in the tournament and it was a golden duck. MI were in trouble at 52/2, but Jos Buttler came in and smashed an unbeaten 101 off a record 29 balls to propel Mumbai Indians to 201/5. Sachin made 79 in his final game in the IPL.

In the chase, RCB’s top order imploded to 32/3 in four overs. They still had to make 170 runs with only 7 wickets and 16 overs. However, with the magical AB de Villiers and impressive rookie Kapil, RCB still had a chance to pull off an upset. On a batting paradise in Bangalore, AB and Kapil started hitting boundaries with their wide variety of shots until they only had 6 runs to get in the last over to win the final.

With the trophy on the line, Sachin Tendulkar, the captain of MI, gave the ball to Rahul for the last over to spark something new in the game. Even though Rahul was a specialist batsman, he could bowl some good offbreaks. In the nets, Sachin had seen Rahul’s uncanny bowling action and saw that he was tough to hit. With Kapil on strike, it was now the ultimate time to show who was the better player.

Ball One. Rahul delivered a good length ball and Kapil tried to hit a four, but missed the ball completely. “Try to hit me if you can, boy,” yelled Rahul as he ended up his runup. Kapil remained quiet. 6 required off 5 balls to win.

Ball Two. Rahul delivered another good length ball and Kapil tried to get a single to bring AB on strike, but missed again. “It is over for you and your team,” Rahul continued.  6 required off 4 balls.

Ball Three. Rahul overpitched the ball and Kapil got a easy single to get AB de Villiers on strike. 5 required off 3 balls.

Ball Four. Rahul delivered a good length ball and AB missed the ball completely. “I see your inspiration can not hit my easy balls,” said Rahul to Kapil, who was on the non-striker end. Rahul was turning out to be a great bowler as he was hard to pick. 5 required off only 2 balls to win.

Ball Five. Rahul delivered a short ball, which AB dispatched for a four. Pressure was off and it was only 1 to get off 1 ball. Rahul yelled, “$%&*,” in frustration.

Ball Six. Rahul delivered a good length ball that AB edged and the ball ran behind the wicketkeeper. They raced for a single and RCB won!

It was a magical moment for Kapil, who celebrated the moment with his mentor AB. The entire team rushed onto the field to celebrate with the heroes. Kapil was about to blurt out some harsh words to Rahul, but settled with, “You Mad Bro?” Rahul took out his hand to shake with Kapil and asked for forgiveness for his behavior. Kapil forgave him and decided that friendship was the best way to go. That night, Kapil partied like crazy with his teammates. He was not just part of the team, but partly responsible for the victory!

One month later, Kapil and Rahul met to enjoy a cup of chai at a local coffee shop. They discussed their journey in the IPL and how they were foolish to let competition come in the way of their friendship. As they were laughing, Rahul’s phone rang in his pocket. He picked up the call and learned that he had been selected for the Indian team for the tour of Australia in reward for his tremendous performance in the IPL. Kapil congratulated his friend, however, felt jealous that he did not get a place in the squad as well. He was about to leave the coffee shop, but suddenly, his phone started ringing as well.