The alarm in Ali's room rang. It was the day of the match. The match that would determine whether Ashwandeep would slog in the secondary qualification bracket, or be in direct qualification with a month long rest.
My two lives are colliding with each other now, huh. Ali thought to himself.
Ali, as he usually did, got his clothes on, took his kit bag and went downstairs.
"Ali, we are coming to see today's match." Said Zainab.
"Don't you have work today?" Asked Ali.
"It's just one day of work. Why should I skip my son's big day?" Asked Zainab.
Ali smiled. In his past life, no one came for any of his matches, except for his district team debut. And that was only because Zainab had got a holiday that week.
In the background, Salim sat as usual, reading his paper.
"So, what's the color of your school's jersey, Ali?" Asked Salim.
"It's red, why do you ask?" Asked Ali.
"No reason." Said Salim, before going to his room to change.
The van was waiting for Ali, its honks like a alarm for Ali to return to the match.
Ali put his kit in the trunk and went into the van.
The van started its move to Nehru Maidan, which was considered as Ashwandeep's home ground.
Not a single person spoke on the bus ride. Everyone was either sleeping or listening to music to ease the nerves.
Usually they would be discussing tactics by now or playing pranks on Suraj, but no one was doing anything.
Ali could feel the pressure building up in the van.
Not a single one of them believed they could win.
Ali kept quiet,and was about to use the match analyzer to see how the match could pan out.
No wait. I know them inside out, like a glove. Thought Ali.
The screen stopped before it showed the analysis.
Ali knew everything about St Alphonso's players. He had played matches with them, won the inter school tournament with them, and had even stayed with some of them in the hostel during the district team selection.
He knew how Amir idolized Virat Kohli.
He knew how Simran used to practice his bowling so much that he would sprain his finger.
He knew how Aditya would always go to a fortune teller before every match.
The van opened its doors, with the driver beckoning for them to leave.
They had reached first. The team began practicing on the pitch like it was second nature to them.
Ali, Shrivastav and Manish all gathered together, ready to discuss the strategy for this match.
"So, what's the plan?" Asked Shrivastav. "How are we going to prevent a humiliating loss?"
"I'm not sure.." Said Manish.
"Why are you guys so listless?" Asked Ali, angrily. "It's just another match. We shouldn't lose confidence even if they have a district player in their lineup."
"You're actually right." Said Manish, before calming himself down.
"Anyways, do you remember what we did with Siddarth last time?" Asked Ali.
"Yeah, but Siddarth was egotistical and overconfident, so that worked." Stated Manish. "This is Aditya we are talking about. He isn't like Siddarth."
"No, I was thinking of doing the same, but by using his teammates weakness against them." Said Ali, before pulling out a notebook.
"Where did you get this?" Asked Siddarth.
"I have my ways." Said Ali. In reality, this book had a combination all the info Ali remembered from his past life with the St Alphonso players and all the information that Aditi had collected via her network.
They flipped through the pages, each containing a contingency plan for every batsman in their lineup.
Only Aditya's page was left blank.
"Alright, this should work." Said Manish. "Let's bring the fight to them."
Manish gathered everyone, and began discussing his plan.
After some time, the small stands filled, before Ali saw Zainab waving at him, while his dad was wearing a Manchester United jersey.
He waved at his mom, while looking at his dad surprised.
His father looked at him as if to say, "I had no red jersey. I only have this. What can I do?"
Ali laughed internally, before going to talk to Aditya for the first time in his new life.
He walked towards their dugout.
Simran was arguing with Amir about his phone, while Aditya was looking into space thinking about something.
One look from Aditya, and Simran and Amir stopped fighting.
"So you're Ali, isn't it?" Said Aditya, before shaking his hand.
"Yeah, that's me. I'm the Ali you heard so much about." He joked.
"I heard you were going to transfer to St Alphonso last month. What made you change your mind?" Asked Aditya curiously.
"I just didn't want to burden my parents with a bunch of paperwork." Ali joked again. "Oh, and by the way, how's your finger, Simran?"
"It's fine." Said Simran, before fiddling with his finger.
"You have some talent." Stated Aditya. "You should have transferred here. We need a better No 3 batsman."
"Why are you telling me your team's secrets?" Asked Ali.
"Is there supposed to be a reason to hide such things?" Questioned Aditya.
This was exactly like him. He didn't care about playing mind games with his opponent.
"Anyways, cricket isn't some kind of strategy game." Said Aditya. "It's a game of skill."
"You really shouldn't share such stuff with our opponents, Aditya." Said Simran.
"I'm the captain. As long as it is my choice and it doesn't cause any issues, it's fine." Retorted Aditya.
Simran kept quiet.
"Anyways, see you later Aditya." Said Ali, before saying goodbye to a piece of his past life.
"I'll finish this match quickly for you guys, so that you guys can finish your homework." Aditya jokingly said.
Ali walked back to his team, before the toss began.
The coin was tossed and Manish called heads, but the coin landed on tails.
"We'll bowl." Said Aditya calmly.
Sahwit looked forward, hoping to see a complete breakdown of Ashwandeep's batting.
"I hope this works. It has to." He murmured to himself.
The usual duo of Manish and Samuel walked out, ready to show everyone which team's opening pair was better.
Ali looked at Sahwit, wondering what he was planning with this matchup.
If it was another battle of systems, he would definitely get what he wanted.
TO BE CONTINUED
Ps: if you like what you are reading so far, why not add the book into your collection?