Ashwandeep at the end, had lost. They would now have to go through the brutal bracket seeding route if they still wanted to qualify.
Ali begrudgingly shook hands with the St Alphonso players. He then met Aditya, and shook his hand.
"You actually made me lose my calm." Said Aditya. "You really should have transferred here."
"Nah, I prefer Ashwandeep." Said Ali. "After all, my teammates are familiar here."
"I believe the KCPL selectors were watching this match." Stated Aditya, before motioning at Jahan and the man next to him, who were chatting enthusiastically.
"Scout or no scout, it's better to always perform, don't you agree?" Said Ali.
"You're right but, playing in the Karnataka Cricket Premier League brings its own opportunities, not just money." Stated Aditya. "Our state's U19 side is depleted, so you could have a chance there if you do well in the KCPL."
"A team has to have interest in me first." Joked Ali. "Let's see what happens."
After this, Ali continued shaking the other players hands, before leaving with his parents in the car.
"Did you have fun?" Asked Zainab, as she got into the car, before slamming the door shut.
"I did." Said Ali, though he felt like someone had punched him in the gut.
Salim looked at Ali once, before silently driving the car away through the night.
Ali went to his room, before slamming the door and going to sleep.
The next morning, the team met together in the classroom. As usual, the duo of Karan and Shastri would preside on affairs.
"All of you did well. Not many thought you guys would choke St Alphonso, but in the end, Aditya is a district player." Said Shastri.
"So, what caused your loss?" Asked Karan. "Despite a complete control of both innings, why did you lose? In sports, introspection is important."
"We leaked runs." Said Suhail.
"The target we scored wasn't too high." Suggested Vasudev.
"We became complacent in the end." Said Ali.
"Explain." Ordered Karan.
"We had it all, a high target, the opposition's batting collapse." Began Ali. "But we gave Aditya time to set up. The rest, we completely dominated. This was our idea, as we believed that he wouldn't get out."
"Will the current Manish forgive such complacency, after breaking his arm, just to lose?" Asked Karan.
"No." Stated Ali. "No, he wouldn't."
"You see, just because a person is great at something, doesn't mean you avoid them." Said Shastri. "I'm not just talking about cricket, I'm talking about life too."
"Anyways, since we won 4 matches of the 5 qualifiers, we have to face 15 other schools for 2 spots into the secondary round of qualifiers." Said Karan.
"We will be in a table containing all the teams. The two teams with the highest amount of wins of 5 matches with the other teams will get their spots." Explained Shastri.
"The drawn teams are.." Began Karan, listing them.
"Sham PU College, home in two days, then after that you have CXAL away, the next is Excellence PU college home, then-" Karan was suddenly stopped by Shrivastav.
"Wait." Began Shrivastav. "We have to play against Excellence?!"
All the people in the room began panicking.
"After St Alphonso, now Excellence?" Questioned Suraj. "Does Sahwit want to kick us out of the qualifiers?"
"Actually, Excellence PU College lost to Saraswati PU College." Explained Karan. "It was due to a wrong LBW call on one of Saraswati PU College's batsmen."
Ali remembered that in the original timeline, Kamlesh had taken a hat trick and had won the match for Excellence easily.
"Was this another change in the timeline?" Thought Ali.
First was Ravichandran playing for St Alphonso, now the loss of Excellence to Saraswati PU College?
"My memories of the original timeline won't be as useful as before." Thought Ali. "I have to use my memories of the past to understand what else could have changed!"
"Worry about Excellence later." Ordered Karan. "You have Sham PU College up next."
The room quietened.
"Also, didn't Shastri tell you all something earlier?" Continued Karan. "Don't avoid an opponent, just because they are good, was it?"
"Yes sir."
"Zayed has returned from injury. He will be taking Manish's opening spot with Samuel. So the two of you had better familiarize yourselves with each other." Stated Shastri. "Dalal did well in the last match so he will stay in his current starting spot at No 5."
"As for Ali, Manish had called me." Continued Shastri. "He wanted you to be the team captain, but I feel you need a bit more experience. So you will be the vice captain of the team until he returns from his injury."
Ali smiled. He was happy that Manish was trusting him.
"Zayed, you have missed two matches." Said Shastri. "I know you want to return to your power hitting opener persona, but try to avoid risky shots that can cause injury."
After a few words on Sham PU College and motivation, the team was dismissed.
Ali laughed to himself. Sham PU College. The college owned by the same people who scammed Ali when he had failed NEET and JEE with a false package of one crore per year.
"I'm going to release my anger on them." Thought Ali.
And release his anger he did.
Ali smashed seventy six runs in thirty one balls in that match along with Zayed hitting eighty three runs in order to announce himself after his return from injury.
At one point, Sham PU College's bowlers had completely given up, simply bowling, just so that the innings could end.
Zainab clapped for every ball that Ali hit, while the injured Manish silently watched from the stands, with his hand in a cast. He wished to play too, so that he could also take revenge for his elder brother.
Sahwit watched. He had purposely made Excellence lose so that they would face Ashwandeep, and cause their elimination from the qualifiers.
Far in the stands, Akib and Anzal were watching Ali and Zayed bat.
"That call wasn't fair, Anzal." Said Akib. "But now's not the time to worry about that. We have to see how Ali and his teammates bat in a match."
"Don't worry about that Ali loser." Mocked Anzal. "I am much better than him."
"Anzal, I get that you were in the KCPL one year ago, but, you can't just dismiss someone for that." Countered Akib.
"Alright, alright, chill." Told Anzal. "I won't underestimate him."
"Good." Said Akib, concentrating on Ali's batting stance. "We have to find a weakness."
As Akib watched on, he noticed something.
"Tell Adarsh to practice the doorsa ball as much as possible." Told Akib. "We might have found something."
"Do it yourself." Countered Anzal.
Akib ignored him, and put his focus on the match.
He had found something, and he wouldn't hesitate to face Ali with it.
TO BE CONTINUED
Ps: if you like what you are reading so far, why not add the book into your collection?