The evening sky had already turned orange by the time Sahil reached the small local ground near his house.

Unlike the district stadium, this place looked ordinary.

Broken practice nets.

Uneven grass patches.

Rusty fencing.

Plastic chairs near the boundary.

A few children playing noisy plastic-ball cricket nearby.

Normally, this ground felt comfortable to him.

Today...

it felt frustrating.

Sahil dropped his kit bag near the concrete pitch and sat down quietly.

His mind replayed the district net session repeatedly.

Edges.

Beaten deliveries.

Swing.

Broken stumps.

Every mistake still felt fresh.

Especially the outswingers.

Again and again, the ball moved away late and dragged his bat toward slips.

At school level, bowlers rarely exposed him like that.

But district cricket had done it within a single session.

Sahil leaned back against the net pole while staring toward the fading sky.

For the first time since gaining the system...

he realized something uncomfortable.

His batting style still had major flaws.

Raw aggression worked against weak bowling.

But against disciplined district bowlers?

Especially swing bowling?

His weaknesses became obvious instantly.

A cold breeze passed across the empty ground.

Then—

---

System Analysis Complete

Major Technical Weakness Identified

Outswing Ball Control

---

Problems Detected

Overreaching outside off stump

Weak balance while driving

Late reaction to movement

Poor off-side patience

---

Recommended Training Method

Plastic-Ball Outswing Practice

Reason: ✔ Faster repetition

✔ Better visual adaptation

✔ Reduced fear response

✔ Improved wrist-reading development

---

Sahil quietly stared at the glowing blue screen.

Plastic-ball outswing practice...

Honestly, it sounded strange.

But the system had never guided him wrongly before.

Just as he stood up—

"Oi! District player!"

Sahil turned immediately.

A familiar skinny boy walked toward him carrying a plastic cricket ball.

Messy hair.

Worn slippers.

Old school jersey.

Ravi.

The same Ravi who used to play gully cricket and school matches with him for years.

Back in school, Ravi was famous for only one thing—

Making the plastic ball swing ridiculously.

Sometimes even more than leather balls.

"Bro, heard you reached district trials," Ravi said excitedly.

Sahil smirked slightly.

"Still surviving somehow."

Ravi laughed loudly.

"That means you’re surviving."

Then he noticed Sahil’s serious expression.

"What happened?"

Sahil remained silent for a few seconds before answering honestly.

"Outswing."

Ravi blinked.

"Leather-ball swing?"

Sahil nodded.

"Getting destroyed."

Instead of laughing, Ravi grinned confidently.

"Then you came to the right place."

He spun the plastic ball between his fingers proudly.

"You forgot who made you edge behind in school practice?"

Sahil immediately remembered.

Back during school cricket, Ravi constantly troubled him using taped plastic-ball outswingers.

At that time, Sahil relied mostly on aggressive batting.

Half the time he either edged or missed completely.

Back then, it never mattered much.

Now...

those same weaknesses were becoming dangerous at district level.

Ravi walked toward the concrete pitch casually.

"Come."

"I’ll fix your problem."

Sahil raised an eyebrow.

"You sound like a coach now."

"I am a coach," Ravi replied proudly.

"Gully Cricket Swing Specialist."

Sahil laughed despite himself.

For the first time since district trials started...

his shoulders relaxed slightly.

Within minutes, they created a rough practice setup using old side nets and broken poles.

A few local kids gathered nearby curiously.

One of them immediately shouted,

"District bhaiya batting!"

Soon more children gathered excitedly.

Normally Sahil enjoyed attention.

Today, he ignored it completely.

His mind focused only on one thing.

Outswing.

Ravi held the plastic ball carefully before rubbing one side against his shirt aggressively.

"You know why plastic ball swing is dangerous?" he asked casually.

Sahil adjusted his gloves.

"Why?"

"Because movement happens late."

Then Ravi smirked.

"And you panic against late movement."

That statement irritated Sahil because it was true.

"Ready?"

Sahil nodded.

Ravi started his short run-up.

The first delivery came quickly.

WHOOSH!

The plastic ball curved away sharply after pitching.

Sahil instinctively pushed hard at it.

EDGE.

The ball flew directly into side fencing.

The nearby kids laughed loudly.

"Slip catch!"

Sahil exhaled slowly.

Same mistake again.

Second ball.

Outswing once more.

This time Sahil tried attacking through covers.

EDGE again.

Third ball.

Completely beaten.

Ravi grinned.

"You’re chasing the ball too much."

Sahil frowned.

"Easy for you to say."

"No seriously," Ravi replied while walking back.

"You’re trying to hit swing before understanding it."

That sentence made Sahil pause slightly.

Ravi pointed toward his own wrist.

"Watch here."

"Not the ball."

Immediately, Kabir’s advice from district nets replayed inside Sahil’s head.

Watch the wrist.

Not the ball.

The same advice.

Sahil adjusted his stance slowly.

"Again."

Ravi bowled once more.

This time Sahil focused entirely on wrist position during release.

The ball angled outside off stump.

Sahil let it go.

Cleaner judgement.

Next delivery curved away again.

Sahil stayed balanced longer before defending softly.

THACK!

Much cleaner contact.

Ravi blinked slightly.

"Oh?"

Sahil ignored him.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The session continued nonstop.

And quickly, the biggest advantage of plastic-ball practice became obvious.

Repetition.

In district nets, every delivery carried pressure.

Every mistake got judged.

Every edge damaged confidence.

But here...

he could fail repeatedly without fear.

The outswing still troubled him initially.

Sometimes he reached too far.

Sometimes his front foot froze.

Sometimes he reacted late again.

But gradually...

his body started adapting.

Watch the wrist.

Stay balanced.

Play late.

Those three thoughts repeated constantly inside his mind.

The evening sky slowly darkened.

Sweat rolled down Sahil’s neck while he continued batting.

Dozens of deliveries later—

THACK!

A crisp square drive raced across the concrete surface.

The connection sounded beautiful.

Several nearby kids shouted immediately.

"SHOT!"

Even Ravi looked slightly surprised.

"That was clean."

Sahil himself noticed the difference instantly.

Earlier, he attacked outswing recklessly.

Now he waited longer.

His balance felt calmer.

The bat face stayed straighter.

The next few deliveries improved further.

Leave.

Defend.

Drive.

Leave again.

The rhythm slowly started building.

Nearby children stopped laughing now.

Instead, they watched seriously.

Sahil’s movement looked sharper with every passing minute.

Then Ravi suddenly grinned mischievously.

"Now faster one."

Before Sahil could react—

WHOOSH!

The plastic ball curved away sharply at higher pace.

EDGE!

Straight toward imaginary slips again.

Sahil clicked his tongue in frustration.

Still inconsistent.

Still unstable.

District-level swing bowling truly was different.

Even after improvement, one good outswinger still exposed him immediately.

But strangely...

that no longer frustrated him as much.

Because now he understood something important.

Improvement wasn’t instant.

Even professional players struggled against swing.

The important thing was adaptation.

And Sahil adapted quickly.

That had always been his biggest strength.

The practice session continued intensely for another hour.

At one point, Sahil even started enjoying the challenge.

Every outswing delivery felt like a battle.

Every clean defense felt rewarding.

Every properly left ball boosted confidence.

Then finally—

THACK!

A beautiful late square drive pierced perfectly between imaginary point and cover.

Clean timing.

Perfect balance.

The nearby kids shouted excitedly.

"WHAT A SHOT!"

Even Ravi laughed loudly.

"Now you’re getting dangerous."

Sahil slowly looked down at his bat.

That shot had felt different.

Calm.

Controlled.

Not forced.

A small smile appeared on his face.

Maybe for the first time since entering district cricket...

he felt genuine improvement.

The blue system screen appeared immediately afterward.

---

Skill Progress Updated

OUTSWING MASTERY

Beginner Rank

EXP: 0 → 19 / 100

---

Training Evaluation

✔ Improved off-side patience

✔ Better balance against swing

✔ Earlier wrist recognition

✔ Reduced panic response

---

Sahil quietly stared at the screen.

Nineteen EXP already.

That was faster than expected.

Maybe because the repetition speed with plastic-ball practice was extremely high.

The system slowly disappeared.

The local kids immediately surrounded him excitedly.

"Bhaiya teach pull shot!"

"How do you hit so hard?"

"Will you play on TV now?"

Sahil laughed softly for the first time that day.

"First let me survive district trials."

The boys laughed loudly.

Meanwhile Ravi tossed him the plastic ball casually.

"You’ll make district team," he said confidently.

Sahil caught the ball silently.

Would he?

Honestly...

he still didn’t know.

The gap between him and academy players remained huge.

But compared to yesterday?

He already felt slightly better.

And that was enough.

Because improvement meant progress.

As the night air grew colder, Sahil finally packed his kit bag.

His shoulders hurt.

His palms burned slightly.

His legs still felt heavy from conditioning drills.

But mentally...

he felt calmer.

Today’s training had taught him something important.

District cricket wasn’t about dominating immediately.

It was about solving weaknesses one by one.

Slowly.

Patiently.

Consistently.

As Sahil walked home beneath the dim streetlights, the system screen appeared one final time beside him.

---

STATUS WINDOW

Name:

Sahil Choudhary

Role:

Aggressive Middle-Order Batsman

---

BATTING STATS

Power: 76

Timing: 60

Control: 38

Defense: 16

Mental Toughness: 27

---

PHYSICAL STATS

Endurance: 27

Agility: 15

Recovery: 11

---

PULL SHOT

Current Mastery:

BEGINNER MASTERY COMPLETE

Current EXP:

131 / 500

---

OUTSWING MASTERY

Rank:

Beginner

Current EXP:

19 / 100

---

PERFECT TIMING PATHWAY

Objective:

1000 Perfect Connections

Progress:

324 / 1000

Completion:

32.4%

Reward:

+20 Timing

---

SIX-HITTER PATHWAY

Objective:

100 Official Tournament Sixes

Current Progress:

46 / 100

Reward:

UNKNOWN

---

MAIN QUEST

"REAL CRICKET BEGINS"

Objective:

Earn selection into District Under-19 Squad

---

Sahil quietly stared at the glowing blue screen while walking through the silent street.

Then he slowly tightened his grip around the bat resting on his shoulder.

Yesterday, outswing bowling had humiliated him.

Today...

he had finally started fighting back.