Sunday morning practice at Riverside Gully looked different now.

Less chaos.

Less random batting.

More serious.

Because Sahil had changed—

and slowly, the people around him changed too.

Earlier boys only practiced six-hitting.

Now suddenly everyone wanted:

"Yorker daal."

"Catch practice kar."

"Field properly."

Even Ravi started bringing cones from school for running drills.

The lane looked half-gully cricket, half-training camp now.

But despite all that—

Sahil’s leather-ball adjustment remained rough.

Very rough.

That afternoon Ravi arranged proper net practice at a nearby school ground through his cousin.

The moment Sahil entered the nets—

he felt uncomfortable immediately.

The pitch looked longer.

Cleaner.

More formal.

And the boundaries felt massive compared to Riverside Gully.

No walls nearby.

No tiny gaps for accidental boundaries.

No short leg-side roofs.

Everything suddenly looked harder.

Then Kabir Ahuja arrived.

White gloves.

Proper pads.

Branded bat.

Even the way he walked looked confident.

Behind him came two other school team players.

Nikhil Suri.

Aman Thakur.

Both academy-trained.

Kabir looked at Sahil briefly.

"So this is the gully six-hitter?"

The tone wasn’t mocking exactly.

More curious.

Still irritating.

Practice started quickly.

And honestly?

Sahil struggled immediately.

The leather ball exposed everything.

Short balls rushed him.

Full deliveries jammed his feet.

Wide balls forced ugly reaches.

And worst of all—

his big swings stopped working consistently.

One attempted slog flew high toward midwicket.

Easy catch.

Another mistimed drive barely reached cover.

The system appeared constantly now.

SHOT ANALYSIS COMPLETE

Mistakes: ✘ Overcommitted front shoulder ✘ Excessive bat arc ✘ Weight transfer incomplete

Leather-ball punishment severity: High

Again.

And again.

And again.

Every flaw punished instantly.

Meanwhile Kabir batted afterward.

And Sahil immediately understood the difference.

Compact movements.

Balanced stance.

Minimal wasted motion.

Even defensive shots sounded clean.

No drama.

No violence.

Just control.

Ravi whispered quietly near the nets.

"He’s good."

Sahil nodded silently.

Very good.

Then something happened that irritated Sahil badly.

Kabir faced three balls from Aman.

Defended calmly.

Then casually lofted one straight back over the bowler’s head.

Not huge.

Not flashy.

But perfectly timed.

The kind of shot that looked effortless.

And suddenly Sahil realized something uncomfortable.

His sixes looked powerful.

Kabir’s shots looked professional.

Huge difference.

The system appeared quietly afterward.

PLAYER OBSERVATION COMPLETE

Target Comparison: Kabir Ahuja

Strengths Observed: ✔ Efficient technique ✔ Excellent balance ✔ Stable head position ✔ Shot discipline

Host Advantage: ✔ Superior raw power

Host Weakness: Technical gap remains extremely large.

That last sentence hit hard.

Extremely large.

Not small.

Not manageable.

Extremely large.

For a few minutes, frustration built inside Sahil.

He had dominated Riverside Gully recently.

People treated him like a star there.

But here?

Against proper cricket players?

He still looked incomplete.

Then Kabir suddenly walked over.

"You hit hard."

Sahil blinked slightly.

"...Thanks."

Kabir shrugged.

"But your shape breaks after power loading."

Sahil froze internally.

That sounded exactly like the system.

Kabir pointed toward Sahil’s stance casually.

"You swing too much from shoulders. Leather ball exposes that fast."

Then he walked away normally.

Like he hadn’t just destroyed Sahil mentally.

The system appeared immediately afterward.

EXTERNAL VALIDATION DETECTED

Technical Observation Match: 92%

Recommendation: Prioritize balance-based batting development.

Sahil stared quietly toward the nets afterward.

For the first time since getting Cricket Ascend—

he genuinely felt behind again.

Not hopeless.

But behind.

And strangely—

that motivated him more than dominating Riverside Gully ever did.