After the DAV match—

everything accelerated.

Not just Sahil’s batting.

His reputation too.

---

Crowds around Shastri matches grew bigger every game.

Students arrived early just to watch warmups.

Some people came only hoping to see sixes.

And honestly—

Sahil started enjoying it too much.

---

The next few group-stage matches became chaos.

Pure attacking cricket.

---

Because now—

Sahil stopped thinking like a normal school batter.

Every innings felt like domination mode.

---

And surprisingly—

it worked.

---

GROUP A — MATCH 5

Shastri School vs Crescent Academy (Return Fixture)

Crescent tried bowling spin-heavy attack again.

Didn’t matter.

---

Sahil attacked from first over itself.

SIX.

FOUR.

SIX.

---

Strike Rate crossed 250 within ten balls.

Commentary sounded helpless.

> "Crescent have no answer right now!"

> "Sahil is treating this like powerplay batting in franchise cricket!"

---

Result

Shastri won by 8 wickets

Sahil

71* (30)

4 Fours • 6 Sixes

Strike Rate: 236.66

---

SYSTEM UPDATE

Official Tournament Sixes: 25 / 100

---

GROUP A — MATCH 6

Shastri School vs Green Valley Academy (Return Fixture)

Green Valley prepared smarter this time.

Wide yorkers.

Boundary riders.

Slow pitches.

---

And for first time in tournament—

Sahil failed badly.

---

Tried forcing slower ball over leg side.

Top edge.

Caught.

---

Silence spread instantly around ground.

Because people had started expecting fireworks every match now.

---

Sahil

9 (7)

---

Commentary stayed surprisingly balanced though.

> "Important reminder today — even explosive players can fail."

> "Green Valley planned brilliantly against him."

---

Shastri still won through Kabir’s calm chase.

---

That night—

Sahil avoided Instagram completely.

Because clips of his wicket were spreading too.

---

SYSTEM REVIEW

Poor dismissal detected.

Cause: Forced aggression against unfavorable delivery.

---

Pull Shot EXP Penalty

-3 EXP

Current EXP: 71 / 100

---

That irritated him badly.

---

GROUP A — MATCH 7

Shastri School vs National Model School (Return Fixture)

Absolute massacre.

---

National Model attempted short-ball strategy again.

Worst possible decision.

---

Sahil destroyed pull shots repeatedly.

One six even broke temporary commentary tent roof.

Match stopped for four minutes.

---

Commentary nearly died laughing.

> "HE’S ATTACKING INFRASTRUCTURE NOW!"

---

Sahil

82 (34)

5 Fours • 8 Sixes

Strike Rate: 241.17

---

Then—

the system suddenly activated during innings break.

Bright blue.

Far sharper than usual.

---

SPECIALIZED SKILL EVOLUTION COMPLETE

PULL SHOT

Current Mastery: BEGINNER MASTERY → COMPLETED

EXP: 100 / 100

---

SKILL REWARD ACTIVATED

When Executing Pull Shot:

+5 Temporary Power

+5 Temporary Control

--- 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

NEW EFFECTS

✔ Better balance during horizontal-bat shots

✔ Reduced top-edge probability

✔ Increased boundary conversion against short balls

✔ Faster reaction adjustment against pace

---

Sahil stared at the screen silently.

Because honestly—

he could already feel it during today’s innings.

The pull shot felt smoother now.

Cleaner.

Less forced.

---

Then another notification appeared.

---

NEXT EVOLUTION AVAILABLE

INTERMEDIATE PULL SHOT MASTERY

EXP Required: 0 / 500

---

EXP SOURCES

✔ Pull-shot boundaries in official matches

✔ Cleanly timed pull shots

✔ Pull-shot sixes against pace

✔ Pressure execution bonuses

---

INTERMEDIATE MASTERY BENEFITS

??? LOCKED ???

---

The system disappeared slowly afterward.

But Sahil understood immediately.

The next level wouldn’t unlock through one big match.

It required repetition.

Consistency.

Hundreds of successful executions in official cricket.

---

SYSTEM UPDATE

Official Tournament Sixes: 33 / 100

Pull Shot Mastery: BEGINNER MASTERY COMPLETE

---

GROUP A — MATCH 8

Shastri School vs DAV Sector 8 (Return Fixture)

The most anticipated group-stage match.

Crowd completely packed.

Phone cameras everywhere.

---

But surprisingly—

Sahil barely got chance to bat.

---

Shastri chased only 118.

Openers dominated.

Kabir finished calmly.

---

Sahil came at number five with just 6 runs needed.

Before he even settled—

Kabir hit winning boundary.

---

Sahil

1* (1)

---

Commentary joked immediately.

> "Entire crowd came for Sahil batting..."

> "And cricket denied them today."

---

Honestly—

Sahil looked more annoyed than happy after winning.

---

GROUP STAGE SUMMARY

Shastri School completely dominated Group A.

8 Matches.

7 Wins.

1 Loss.

Finished top comfortably.

---

And Sahil?

He became the face of the tournament.

---

Not the most technically complete batter.

Not the safest batter.

But definitely the most feared.

---

SAHIL — GROUP STAGE TOURNAMENT STATS

Matches: 8

Innings: 7

Runs: 451

Balls: 202

Average: 75.16

Strike Rate: 223.26

Highest Score: 94 (31)

---

Batting Breakdown

50s: 6

100s: 0

30+ Scores: 6

Not Outs: 4

Failures: 2

---

Boundary Stats

4s: 38

6s: 33

Boundary Percentage: 73%

---

Pull Shot Performance

Pull-Shot Boundaries: 14 / 25

Current Mastery: BEGINNER MASTERY COMPLETE

Intermediate Mastery EXP: 0 / 500

---

Perfect Timing Pathway

Progress: 238 / 1000

Completion: 23.8%

---

Six-Hitter Pathway

Official Tournament Sixes: 33 / 100

---

GROUP A FINAL TABLE

Team P W L NRR Pts

Shastri School 8 7 1 +2.88 14

DAV Sector 8 8 6 2 +1.74 12

Green Valley Academy 8 3 5 -0.42 6

National Model School 8 2 6 -1.63 4

Crescent Academy 8 2 6 -2.11 4

---

And now—

the real pressure finally arrived.

Quarterfinals.

District scouts.

Selection attention.

Real cricket eyes watching.