God of Cricket!-Chapter 43: Matchday [2]

Chapter 43: Matchday [2]

[On the Pitch]

Back to the pitch, Aryan had taken his guard.

The scoreboard read: Mumbai 220/5. Target: 311.

Equation: 91 runs off 60 balls.

Aryan looked up at the opposition. He saw a way out.

The bowler was Vinay Kumar, the Karnataka medium-pacer known for his discipline.

Aryan, with his bat speed (Speed Stat: 90), capitalized immediately. Vinay bowled a length ball. Aryan stepped out and lofted it over extra cover for four.

He came up against the Karnataka fielders who were trying to chirp and sledge him.

"Go back to school, kid!" one fielder yelled.

But Aryan, with a calm mind, ignored them. He rotated the strike, moving to 15 off 8 balls.

Then, Aryan came up against someone he didn’t want to meet up with just yet—or perhaps, someone he was destined to face.

It was none other than Anil Kumble.

The legendary leg-spinner. The man with over 500 Test wickets (in this timeline, maybe more). He was the captain of Karnataka. A fierce competitor who once bowled with a broken jaw.

Kumble marked his run-up. He glared at Aryan.

"Come on, boy. Come at me. We don’t have all day," Kumble seemed to say with his body language.

Aryan was on strike. Kumble had set a trap. A slip, a silly point, and a short leg. He was crowding the youngster.

Aryan, with his [Spatial Awareness: 80], analyzed the field.

Kumble ran in. He bowled his faster one—the flipper. It skidded off the surface towards the stumps.

A light bulb suddenly hit Aryan as he saw the field set for a defensive prod.

Aryan smartly pretended to play a forward defense.

Kumble, seeing Aryan’s movement, smiled, thinking he had pinned him down.

But Aryan, connecting with the ball, performed a Switch Hit (The Elastico equivalent).

He changed his grip and stance in a split second, turning from a right-hander to a left-hander.

Kumble, who had already anticipated a defensive shot or a traditional sweep, was caught off guard.

Aryan raised his bat to smash the ball.

Kumble, in an awkward position on his follow-through, tried to put his hand out to stop a straight drive.

Unfortunately for the veteran legend, Aryan had already anticipated Kumble’s trajectory. He didn’t hit it straight back. He pulled the ball to the new leg side (technically the off-side).

He swept the ball powerfully against the spin.

Kumble twisted to see where the ball went, almost losing his footing.

The ball raced through the vacant point region (now square leg for Aryan).

FOUR!

The audacity! To switch-hit a legend like Kumble on your first meeting.

Kumble stared at Aryan. Aryan didn’t lag around and immediately punched gloves with his partner, Aditya Tare.

"Nice shot," Tare said, eyes wide.

The next ball. Kumble adjusted the field. He pushed point back.

Kumble tossed it up, a googly this time.

Aryan picked it from the hand. He didn’t wait.

He used his [Footwork: 77]. He danced down the track.

He came against the flight of the ball. With a few fake movements of his body—shimmying left then right—Aryan confused the keeper and the bowler.

He got to the pitch of the ball. He was now one-on-one with the long-off boundary.

By this time, all the Mumbai Fans had gotten up from their seats. What were they watching? Who was this kid?

Where the hell is he from? What is he doing?

All these were words and questions going on in their heads. The fans didn’t really know Aryan well except for the few who followed the U19 news.

The MCA had tried their best to prevent the news of Aryan from going out too early as IPL franchises would try to poach him.

Aryan, in oblivion, converted the drive into a Helicopter Shot.

He whipped his wrists. The bat speed was a blur.

CRACK!

The ball flew over Kumble’s head. It flew over the long-off fielder. It flew over the sight screen.

"SIX!"

The ball crashed into the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

’Oh my Goodness! That is huge!’ the commentator screamed.

Aryan stood posing with his bat held high in front of the Mumbai fans who had gone crazy.

The shot they had seen was simply outstanding.

The Mumbai players in the dugout stood up and applauded.

"What in the world was that, kid?" Rohit Sharma (who was in the dressing room) said, watching the TV screen.

"I don’t even know myself," Aryan thought, feeling a surge of energy.

After dominating Kumble, Aryan felt his body moving on its own.

Just as Aryan was thinking...

"Ding"

[Host has unlocked ◇ FLOW ◇]

Description: A state that is triggered by the Host when he feels the urgency to score against impossible odds. It heightens reaction time and perception to the absolute peak.

It mostly happens in the death overs of the game and the possibility of triggering it is very low.

Aryan stared at the screen until the bowler returned to his mark, waking him up from his stupor.

"Let’s focus on the match and look at everything later," Aryan thought.

The umpire signaled the start of the next over.

After the restart, the Karnataka players started bowling defensive wide yorkers whenever Aryan was on strike.

They knew what he had done was not a fluke, and only a fool would underestimate him by saying he’s only a kid after he took Kumble for 10 runs in 2 balls.

Aryan was amazed by the discipline of the Karnataka team and continued pushing for singles.

The match turned into a thriller as the required rate hovered around 10 runs per over.

Aryan was in the heart of all this. Running twos like a madman.

Running between the wickets like he had 2 hearts. Aryan was in the moment, and he was really having fun.

"He’s actually smiling," Tare said as he looked at Aryan who was tapping the pitch in the middle of a high-pressure chase.

Aryan hit a four through mid-wicket.

He rotated the strike to Tare.

Tare wasn’t doing bad either. He hit a boundary.

The equation came down: 30 runs off 18 balls.

Stuart Binny, the Karnataka all-rounder, came to bowl.

Tare passed the strike to Aryan.

Aryan, who felt the match was being a bit pacey, decided to slow it down since the situation would be grave if they lost a wicket now.

Aryan looked up and played a soft nudge to mid-on, calling Tare for a quick single.

Tare, after completing the run, faced Binny. He shot the ball towards the cover boundary.

Coach Amre had already raised his hand, and so had most of the Mumbai fans, but they were disappointed as Manish Pandey made a spectacular diving save at the boundary.

Only two runs.

"We’re in trouble," were the thoughts of Aryan and the other Mumbai players as the dot balls piled up in the next over.

12 balls left. 22 runs needed.

Vinay Kumar to bowl the penultimate over.

He bowled a perfect yorker. Aryan dug it out. Dot.

Next ball. Aryan tried to scoop. He missed. Dot.

Pressure.

Aryan looked at the field. He saw a gap at fine leg.

He moved across. Vinay followed him.

Aryan adjusted. He played a Dilscoop!

He chipped the ball over the keeper’s head.

The ball went in a high arc and rustled the net—I mean, hit the sightscreen padding—as it went in for a boundary.

FOUR!

[COMMENTATOR POV]

’Shot! The kid has done it again. Aryan has turned the pressure back on the bowler.

Magical scenes here in the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Aryan, after coming on, stabilized the match for his team and has now scored again after a splendid scoop.

What a revelation he has been in both of the matches he has played.

A 15-year-old taking on Vinay Kumar at the death!

I don’t know the future, but next season is going to be a great season for him if he plays the way he’s playing.’

Aryan went to the non-striker’s end and punched gloves with Tare. He pointed to the back of his shirt as if to say ’Remember the name’.

The Mumbai fans started chanting Aryan’s name after seeing his confidence.

"A-RY-AN! A-RY-AN!"

Most of the fans got the rhythm wrong, but Aryan just laughed.

Last Over. 10 Runs needed.

The bowler was Abhimanyu Mithun. Fast and erratic.

Ball 1: Tare takes a single.

Ball 2: Aryan hits a two. (7 off 4).

Ball 3: Aryan hits a four through point. (3 off 3).

Ball 4: Dot ball. Bouncer.

Ball 5: Aryan takes a single. (2 off 1). 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Last Ball. 2 runs to win. Tare on strike.

Mithun runs in. He bowls a wide yorker.

Tare slashes at it. He connects!

The ball flies to deep point.

They run one.

They turn for the second.

The throw comes in.

It’s going to be tight.

The keeper gathers. He whips the bails off!

"Howzat!"

The umpire goes upstairs. Replay shows Tare is OUT.

Run Out.

Match Tied.

The stadium went eerily silent before the crowd realized it was a Tie.

However, in the league stages, points are split. Mumbai maintained their unbeaten streak.

Aryan fell to the ground, exhausted. He had scored 68 off 35 balls*.

He looked towards the area where the digital scoreboard was and smiled.

Match Tied.

He was on the ground when Coach Amre came to stand over him.

"Get up kiddo. It’s time for your Man of the Match award."

"Wait, what? But we didn’t win," Aryan said.

Coach Amre laughed as he pulled him up. "You saved us from a loss against the best team in the country."

Aryan went towards the presentation area where the commentator Ravi Shastri was waiting for him.

"Well done kid," Shastri said with his booming voice as he handed the cheque and trophy to Aryan.

Aryan took the award as the fans clapped for him.

Even the Karnataka fans clapped for Aryan as what he had just done—counter-attacking Kumble and Vinay Kumar—was no normal feat.

"Sis, are you sure that player is a kid?" Tara said as she looked at her sister Meera, who was also dumbstruck.

She had been amazed throughout the match as she watched Aryan dismantle the bowling.

"Tomorrow’s news is probably going to be about him in both Mumbai and here in Bangalore," Meera thought as she stood up to go, clutching her contract papers tighter.

Tara looked at Aryan once more before following her sister.

Aryan, who was together with his teammates on the pitch, was clapping for the traveling Mumbai fans and the Bangalore crowd that had stayed back.

They had really shown their appreciation for the cricket played today. And the Mumbai team had rewarded them with a performance that felt like a win, maintaining their unbeaten streak. Aryan, who was clapping, felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.

He slowly turned back to find someone who got him starstruck—even with his future knowledge. Aryan saw Anil Kumble in front of him.

(To be Continued)