Chinnar Rai walked back home, after seeing the list of students representing the school team. He had a hop in his step. He had made it.He had proven his dad wrong. He opened the door, and his dad was there, reading a newspaper.
"Dad, I want to tell you something."
"What is it?" Pratyush looked up from his newspaper.
"I made the school team. I proved you wrong." Said Chinnar Rai.
"Oh, good job. But don't forget your studies." Said Pratuysh. "I'll only consider supporting you completely if you actually get into the state team. Besides, sport is a unstable area of work."
"Don't worry dad, I will make you proud." Chinnar Rai calmly told his dad, before preparing to eat his dinner.
Ali had just finished his daily practice at the park. Sweat was dripping from his body, and he was extremely tired.
"Alright system, show me my stats."
[Loading..]
[STATS]
Player Name: Ali Zaidi
Position: No 3 Situational Batsman
Team: Ashwandeep National School Team
Batting: 69
Bowling: 45 (Spin)
Fielding: 57
Physical: 52
Mental: 55
Overall: 56 (Middle District Level)
Unused Points: 0
Potential: 91 (Top BBL Player)
Not enough.
I have to improve further.A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.
Ali calmly walked back to Mahit.
"Son, I thought we finished your fielding practice. Too much training isn't good for you." Advised Mahit, concern on his face.
"No, I have to become good enough to be useful in the tournament. I must train more." Ali begged.
It was nearing the park's closing time. Only Ali and the couples remained in the park. The wind blew slowly, causing leaves to flutter along the grass. It was like a warning to Ali.
"The park is about to close, so come back tomorrow." Mahit calmly spoke. "I'll get in trouble with my employer if you stay here for too long."
"I understand." Ali walked away quietly.
Meanwhile, Zayed was annoyed. He was an aggressive opener. Why was he 5th in the batting order? He then dialed the keypad of his phone, calling Shrivastav.
"Hello? It's 9 pm, what did you call me for Zayed.." came a voice from the phone.
"You're the school team's vice captain right? Can you do me a favor?" Zayed asked Shrivastav.
"The list showed that to you didn't it, Zayed?" Shrivastav was annoyed. "Anyway, I was waiting for your call. The coach told me to tell you this, he placed you at 5th in the batting order as he wanted a power hitter batsman at the death overs. I know it's much harder to slog in the death overs, but you got to try your best."
Zayed knew that this was the consequence of losing to the green house. He had lost his opener spot to Samuel, because he had the best partnership with Manish. Sure, him and Shrivastav too were a great pair of batsmen at #2 and #3, but Ali had the No 3 spot nailed down.
Even Shrivastav was moved down by one in the batting order. It was a reminder for Zayed, to not be mediocre again.
The next day, Shastri called the squad all to a classroom, so that he could explain the format of the interschool district qualifiers.
Ali walked into the classroom, and kept his bag in the side of the room. Ali sat in a seat next to Suhail and Manish.
People were speaking about the qualifiers, which teams were the most dangerous, and what they would do during a match. Suddenly, the room became quiet. Karan and Shastri entered the room.
"Sit down." Ordered Karan.
"Sir, what have you brought us here for?" Asked Vasudev.
"We brought you here to explain the qualifiers format. It's a bit complicated, but it is what it is." Answered Shastri.
"We are facing more than 240 other schools for 16 spots. It's good to know what you're going up against." Said Karan. Shastri then began explaining.
"Each school plays 1 match. If you win that match, you go to the second round. If you lose the first match, you are sent to the losers bracket. Same goes for the second match. But after this you play three matches. Lose the first one, and you get seeded to bracket 3. Lose the second, and you are in bracket 2. Lose the third match and you go to bracket 1. But win all of the three matches…"
"What will happen then?" Asked Dalal.
"A direct qualification into the tournament. That's what we want to do." Said Karan.
"But sir, it's too hard! There are teams like St Alphonso, Vidyalaya PU College and Excellence, not just them, so many teams better than us!" Stated Suhail.
"And that belief of yours, is the reason why it will be too hard." Karan began lecturing the class. "Come on, have some faith in yourself! What do you think the players of those so called superior teams will be thinking right now?"
"They might be thinking on how to beat the other teams?" Answered Mohit.
"Polishing their skills?" Answered another.
"No. They are thinking about when they can get time to practice. They want to practice, until their hair falls out." Karan then continued, "So that, they can perform in the tournament."
"They just do what you are currently doing, but on a much larger scale. Practice on your lonesome isn't enough, we will be doing team wide practice. I want perfect chemistry throughout this team." Said Shastri.
"Manish, do what you always did with Samuel throughout the house tournament. But this time, you will have a much bigger burden." Shastri lectured Manish. "If you make a bad decision, don't think about the decision, think about how to fix it."
"Ali and Shrivastav, I want both aggression and anchoring from you, depending on the situation." He was looking at Ali. "Decide on how you bat, depending on the situation."
"Chinnar, Suraj and Anirudh. Bowl calmly. Remember that the team needs a lesser run rate, not just showboating and freebies."
"Siddarth. You might think you are here due to your dad's influence, but you are here because I believe you have potential, but need an improvement in your character."
"And for the rest of you, you too can enter the starting 11! Give us a reason to remove those who are in the top positions right now."
"Also, our first opponent is Rosenborg School and PU College."
Shastri ended his speech.
"Just don't injure your teammates for a spot in the starting 11." Joked Karan.
Ali had done it. He had done the first change in the timeline. He was able to stop Siddarth from ruining the school team. He was happy. Little did he know, there was something going on in the shadows.
In an office at Malleshwaram, a man was speaking to the vice president of the district board.
"25 lakhs, and the job of president of Mangalore district cricketing board is yours." Said Imtiyaz, clearly disinterested.
"That can easily be done. But what are we going to do about the infamy of the school I work in? The main culprit of that was my son. The newspapers will have a field day with this." Said the man.
"No worries. That wasn't having your direct involvement. We can blame it on your son. I will pay the editors of the local papers to publish good stories on you." Imtiyaz continued.
Unknown to Imtiyaz, a transparent screen was flashing in front of the man. Something only he could see.
[Postional Charisma Skill Successful! You can now mark any asset with worth less than the position of Mangalore Cricketing Board President.]
I got the job. That should be enough to start marking district teams as assets. I need to make myself reputable as possible to cover up any embezzlement of government funds.
The man, in fact was someone Ali knew. And the man knew Ali very well.
TO BE CONTINUED
Ps: if you like what you are reading so far, why not add the book into your collection?