God of Cricket!-Chapter 35 - 3 Wickets Down

Chapter 35: 3 Wickets Down

The cheers of the 26,000+ fans were deafening for the players who had never experienced such an atmosphere.

The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was the venue where the final was being played.

The stadium had been filled to the brim as this was the peak of youth cricket in India, and it was a Sunday.

The match was between the heavyweights, Delhi U19s—who had won the competition 7 times—and the underdogs, Mumbai U19s.

The match was a no-brainer for anyone watching it that Delhi U19 were the favorites.

They were led by a young prodigy named Virat Kohli, who was already making waves in the domestic circuit.

But why were they still watching a match that seemed to be already set in stone? Because people liked the story of underdogs winning.

Aryan, who was on the field for the warm-up session, looked around the stadium with a sense of nostalgia. In his previous life as Raghav, this ground was his temple. He was a die-hard Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fan.

He remembered the future—Gayle’s 175, AB de Villiers’ superhuman innings, and Kohli’s 2016 season—all happened right here.

"Destiny really has a sense of humor, bringing me here," Aryan thought.

He noticed a lot of stares from the people in the press box. It seemed he had drawn a bit of attention because of his recent "Helicopter Shot" video going viral.

Aryan looked away and was saddened as he looked at the crowd.

This was because Priya, Riya, and Ananya couldn’t attend the match.

The match was being played in Bangalore, which was quite a distance from Mumbai.

The warm-up session had been Aryan’s opportunity to snoop around with the snooping function. He had to see the stats of the future legends he knew. He focused on the Delhi players warming up.

[PLAYER INFO]

NAME: ISHANT SHARMA

AGE: 18

HEIGHT: 1.93m (6’4")

PROFESSION: CRICKETER

STATUS: STATE YOUTH PLAYER (Ranji Regular)

TEAM: Delhi U19

SYSTEM EVALUATION: [Future International Star]

PLAYER RATING: 74/100

POSITION: Fast Bowler

POTENTIAL: 90

[STATS]

Bowling Speed: 88 (140kmph+)

Bounce: 90

Swing: 75

Accuracy: 70

Stamina: 72

Aryan gulped. Ishant was already bowling 140kmph at this age.

He then looked at the captain, a chubby-cheeked boy with spiky hair.

[PLAYER INFO]

NAME: VIRAT KOHLI

AGE: 18

HEIGHT: 1.75m (5’9")

PROFESSION: CRICKETER

STATUS: INDIA U19 CAPTAIN

TEAM: Delhi U19

SYSTEM EVALUATION: [The Chosen One / King]

PLAYER RATING: 72/100

POSITION: Top Order Batsman

POTENTIAL: 99 (Alien)

Aryan almost dropped his ball. Potential 99. The System recognized him as an ’Alien’.

They were soon done with the warm-up session and headed towards the dressing room. Aryan, who had no idea what awaited him, trudged towards the room.

Coach Kulkarni had held off on naming the starting 11 the day before as he said he would do it today.

"Okay guys, we are batting first. The pitch looks dry, but there is moisture underneath. We need to survive the first hour."

"Openers: Suved Parkar, Divyansh Saxena."

"Number 3: Armaan Jaffer."

"Number 4: Sarfaraz Khan."

"Number 5: Hardik Tamore (WK)."

"Number 6: Prithvi."

"Number 7: Shams Mulani."

...

Coach Kulkarni concluded before walking off.

The lineup made some of the players look at the Coach to see if they heard it right.

Where was Aryan’s name? Aryan was also thinking the same thing.

"Did I offend him or something?" he thought as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

Not to be arrogant or anything, but Aryan knew that he was by far the most in-form player in the team.

Coach Kulkarni named the subs and this time Aryan heard his name. He was still thinking why the Coach didn’t want to start him in the Final.

He wanted to voice out his opinions but stopped as he didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere before the match so he kept quiet.

The players stepped onto the pitch after a brief tactical session.

The captains of both sides went for the toss. Delhi U19 won the toss and elected to Bowl First.

Prithvi (Captain) shook hands with Virat.

The Delhi team huddled. Ishant Sharma marked his long run-up.

The umpire blew the whistle—called "Play"—to signify the start of the match.

[COMMENTATOR POV]

’Hello everyone and good morning to you all.

My name is Harsha Bhogle and I’m your commentator for this electrifying Final as Delhi U19s goes against Mumbai U19s.

We see that the lineup for the Mumbai U19 stays mostly the same but there has been one peculiar change which surprised me and I’m sure those in the press box were surprised as well.

Aryan Sharma, Mumbai U19s No. 18 who is arguably their best player of the tournament, is nowhere to be found in the starting 11 as he seems to be the 12th man or Impact sub for this one.

I don’t know what is going on in the mind of Coach Kulkarni but I hope whatever he has planned goes well against this fierce Delhi bowling attack.

Now coming back to the match, Ishant Sharma has the new ball. He runs in...

Bowl! Huge appeal!

OUT!

What a start for Delhi! The stumps are flying!

Suved Parkar is gone for a golden duck.

A scorching delivery, pitched on length, nipped back in. Clean bowled.

4 minutes played and it’s 0/1 for Mumbai U19. ’

The Mumbai U19 players watched in horror.

The new batsman, Armaan Jaffer, walked in. They tried to regroup.

The Delhi U19 players, however, were bowling splendidly.

They thwarted all the scoring opportunities. Ishant was extracting bounce from a length that made the batsmen jump.

They covered any gap or space that could be used against them.

The Mumbai U19 players played defensively for about 7 overs without scoring a boundary.

The match had gone stale after the first wicket as Delhi released a flurry of attacks and Mumbai defended for their lives.

Delhi waited for a mistake and they finally got their chance in the 9th Over.

Pradeep Sangwan, the left-arm pacer, came into the attack.

He bowled a beautiful Outswinger to the set batsman, Divyansh.

Divyansh tried to drive. He saw the width and went for it.

But the ball swung late. It took a thick outside edge.

The ball flew towards the slip cordon. Virat Kohli, standing at second slip, dove to his right.

He grabbed it with both hands! A sharp catch!

Wicket!

The stadium erupted into cheers as the Delhi U19 fans exploded into life once more.

The second wicket fell with the score at

22/2. Everyone watching the game was now thinking how low Mumbai would collapse.

The spectators were right as Delhi U19 would strike again a few overs later.

Ishant Sharma returned for a second burst.

The Mumbai players who were relieved the first spell was over were lacking focus.

Ishant ran in and delivered a vicious Bouncer.

The batsman, Armaan, was late on the hook shot. The ball got big on him. It hit the top edge of the bat and lobbed up to fine leg.

The fielder settled under it and took a simple catch.

30/3.

Coach Kulkarni was standing on the boundary line with his head in his hands.

He hadn’t expected his team to receive such a battering in the first hour.

He signaled his players to play defensively for the remainder of the session. "Survive till lunch!"

The Mumbai U19 team did just that as they went into a shell..

The game became worse when they almost lost another wicket to a run-out, but the fielder missed the stumps.

The umpire looked at his watch before removing the bails to signal the Lunch Break.

Score: Mumbai U19 - 45/3 (20 Overs).

Aryan stood up from the bench as sitting for the first session had made his butt sore.

He stretched a bit before heading towards the dressing room. He didn’t know what to feel.

Whether to be angry at his teammates for playing loose shots or at his Coach for the tactical blunder.

The rest of the players came to meet Aryan in the dressing room playing ’Snake’ on his Nokia phone..

They thought what nerves he had to be playing a game when they were 3 wickets down in a final.

Aryan didn’t pay heed to the stares but rather looked at his phone.

Aryan staring at his phone was just a facade which the players saw..

Aryan in truth had opened the System and was contemplating if he should upgrade his stats before he came onto the pitch as he stared at the holographic interface.

His team were 3 wickets down for peanuts, and it would take a stroke of genius to post a defendable total.

After much deliberation, Aryan decided to do it because he wanted to win this competition and get that off his bucket list.

[PLAYER INFO]

NAME: ARYAN SHARMA

AGE: 14

PLAYER RATING: 68/100

STAT POINTS: 57 (Accumulated)

[STATS]

Speed: 70

Footwork: 65

Spatial Awareness: 71

Technique: 65

Batting: 66

Bowling: 69

Physical Strength: 68

Aryan analyzed the situation. Ishant Sharma was bowling pace and bounce.

He needed Technique to handle the swing and Physical Strength to handle the bounce. But more importantly, he needed Batting stats to score against this quality attack.

Aryan started with his Batting stat.

Batting: 66

Timing: 64

Power Hitting: 63

Shot Selection: 67

Defense: 60

Aryan added [1] stat point to Defense and did the same for the remaining ones to round them up.

Then he poured points in.

Batting: 66 > 72

Timing: 64 > 75

Power Hitting: 63 > 70

Shot Selection: 67 > 72

Defense: 60 > 72

Aryan went to the Physical Strength attribute next. He added points to Strength and Stamina.

Physical Strength: 68 > 72

Stamina: 70 > 75

Strength: 66 > 70

Aryan after the body strength attribute went to his Technique attribute. He added points to Batting

Technique (handling swing/spin).

Technique: 65 > 70

Aryan moved on to his Footwork. He added points to Reflexes and Balance to handle the bouncers.

Footwork: 65 > 70

[System runs off the decimals to 70 for the attribute].

Now Aryan had used [41] stat points out of the [57] stat points.

Aryan now came back and clicked on his Bowling Attribute as he would need to bowl later to defend the total.

There were [16] stat points remaining. Aryan added them to Swing and Accuracy.

Bowling: 69 > 72

Aryan was a bit sad that his overall Bowling couldn’t break the 75 rating yet.

Aryan switched to the stat screen and his stats looked something like this.

[STATS]

Speed: 70

Footwork: 65 > 70

Spatial Awareness: 71

Technique: 65 > 70

Batting: 66 > 72

Bowling: 69 > 72

Physical Strength: 68 > 72

"Ding"

[Host OVR rating has gone from 68 to 70]

"Ding"

[Hidden Achievement Unlocked]

Get to an OVR of 70 within 6 months of gaining the System.

Rewards:

20 Stat Points

+1 A-Grade Injury Prevention Elixir

Aryan smiled at the hidden achievement.

He put his phone down after Coach Kulkarni entered the dressing room, looking desperate.

Coach Kulkarni stared at him before...

"Aryan, pad up. You’re going in next. Divyansh looks shaky against the short ball," Coach Kulkarni said, his voice tight with tension.

Divyansh Saxena, the set batsman, couldn’t help but smile bitterly as he watched the signaling from the dressing room.

His performance in the first hour was embarrassing as he couldn’t even rotate the strike against the Delhi pacers without edging the ball.

And the thing was, seeing off the new ball was the reason he was sent to open in the first place.

Aryan nodded before pulling on his gloves. The kit manager handed Aryan his helmet before he stood up.

Just then, a loud appeal echoed from the ground. The umpire’s finger went up. Divyansh was out, caught at slip off a nasty bouncer.

Aryan walked out to the pitch. He took his guard and looked around. He tapped the pitch, feeling the hardness.

"Finally, they sent him in. Seems the coach has come back to his senses," a spectator in the crowd said, adjusting his cap against the Bangalore sun.

"Who is he? Do you know him?" another asked.

"Oh yeah, Rajesh, you haven’t followed the Mumbai U19s for long. That kid is Aryan Sharma.

In one word: ’Genius’. In two words: ’Fucking Talented’. He joined them late in the zonal stages. Mumbai U19 were struggling then, but they came first at the end of the season and ever since then they haven’t drawn or lost a match."

"Then he’s very good," said Rajesh.

"Yeah, I’m pretty sure the Senior Mumbai Ranji team would have called him up if it wasn’t for his age," the fan said as he reverted his gaze back to Aryan.

"Hopefully he can pull off a miracle," the fan thought as he looked at Aryan marking his crease.

Aryan adjusted his helmet and looked at the bowler. It was Ishant Sharma, standing tall at 6’4", looking menacing.

The Mumbai U19 team was teetering at 45/4. Aryan needed to play with a burning desire to save the innings.

[COMMENTATOR POV]

’Hello everyone and welcome back to the post-lunch session of this year’s Vinoo Mankad Trophy Final.

From the onset, it looks like Mumbai U19s has lost another wicket, and their little magician for the second half of the season has come to the crease.

Aryan looks to be batting at Number 5 today.

I haven’t seen him play under this much pressure before, but let’s wish him well against this fiery Delhi attack.

Now the players are in position. Ishant Sharma to bowl to the new man.’

Over 21

Mumbai U19 kicked into gear as they tried to rebuild.

Sarfaraz Khan, the non-striker, tapped the ball to mid-on and called for a quick single to give Aryan the strike.

Aryan took a deft touch of the pitch before facing Ishant.

Aryan held his stance. Ishant ran in and bowled a length ball.

Aryan, using his [Gap Piercer] trait, punched it through the covers.

One of the Delhi midfielders—I mean, cover fielders—tried to dive and stop the ball but was met with a nutmeg... well, the ball went right through his hands.

The Mumbai U19 fans chuckled at what they had just seen..

The match had been tough for them, and this boundary was a nice change of pace.

Aryan continued his assault. The next over, he faced the spinner. He stepped out.

He kicked the ball—no, he drove the ball past the Delhi extra-cover fielder who was approaching.

Aryan was a bit surprised to see the fielder gaining on the ball near the boundary.

Although the outfield was fast, Virat Kohli (fielding at deep cover) was electric.

"I think I should pay a bit of attention to my running between wickets now that these fielders are elite," Aryan thought.

Aryan decided to manipulate the field. He waited for the next ball..

He stepped back, making room. The bowler followed him.

Aryan slowed down his bat swing... and then accelerated at the last moment.

He played a Reverse Sweep through the legs of the wicketkeeper—no, past the short third man.

Aryan then took strike against Ishant again.

He was now in the zone.

Aryan sized up the long-off boundary. He pretended to play a defensive shot..

The slip fielders relaxed, thinking he would block.

Aryan smirked before changing his grip.

He stepped out and converted the defensive prod into a lofted drive.

He raised his bat high and curled the ball over the long-off boundary.

The Delhi keeper, who also thought Aryan was going to defend, could only watch as the ball sailed into the stands.

SIX!

The Mumbai U19 fans screamed into life.

[COMMENTATOR POV]

’Aryan receives the bouncer from Ishant Sharma.

Aryan takes on the short ball!

Pradeep Sangwan tries to cut it off at fine leg but, beautifully done by Aryan as he places it wide of him.

Aryan moving forward with pace, driving the run rate up.

He nudges the ball around Kohli who chases.

Aryan once again finds the gap and cuts inside... I mean, inside-out over covers!

Aryaaan fakes the leave and Aryaaaaaaannnn...

Oooooooooooohhhhh.

SIX!

What a spectacular counter-attack by Aryan. If Sachin Tendulkar was watching this match, I’m sure he’d be impressed by the talent of this teenager.’

The Mumbai U19 team celebrated the fifty partnership like it was the trophy.

Aryan escaped from the fist bumps of Sarfaraz and focused on the next ball.

The umpire signaled the start of the next over.

Delhi U19 tried to break the partnership. .

They were trying to stop the run flow but their efforts proved futile as Aryan’s placement was piercing—every gap.

The Mumbai players played like new life had been breathed into them.

Aryan was batting really well for a Number 5, using his spatial awareness to detect field changes.

The ball went for a drinks break. A substitution—I mean, a message from the 12th man—was coming out.

Aryan taking advantage of this walked to

Sarfaraz.

"Hey, let’s try to press the running. Convert ones into twos."

Sarfaraz who heard this nodded.

Aryan saw that Armaan Jaffer (who was actually still in, let’s correct the partnership) was near.

"Just run," Aryan whispered.

Armaan nodded.

The bowler ran in. Aryan jumped and headed—I mean, ramped the ball over the keeper.

It was a Dilscoop.

The ball flew to the fine leg boundary.

Armaan had already started to run.

They ran three runs as the fielder fumbled.

Coach Kulkarni bumped his fists in the air as he saw the 200 come up on the board.

He smiled at the boy who had just saved his ass.

Aryan continued to dominate. Delhi decided to bowl defensive lines (park the bus).

There were still 10 overs left in the innings.

Time was ticking and the Mumbai U19 fans started praying for a respectable total.

Aryan got a ball in the slot and as if controlled, most of the Mumbai fans stood up.

Aryan sent a drive past the bowler..

The Delhi keeper as if sensing something was wrong immediately got tense.

He didn’t know what this foreboding feeling was but he would find out some seconds later as Aryan stepped out.

Aryan let the ball pitch once before smacking the ball from the crease.

All the fans in the stadium were on the edge of their seats.

"Don’t get caught!" was one prayer.

"Catch it!" was the other.

Time seemed to slow down as Aryan saw his ball move in a high arc and finally it hit the roof of the Chinnaswamy stadium.

A strong Silence!!! Rang across the stadium.

Finally, the Mumbai players and fans who came out of their trance screamed on top of their lungs.

"CENTURY!"

Aryan had rescued the team from 45/4 to a massive total.

His teammates started clapping on the balcony.

Coach Kulkarni was busy hugging his coaching staff.

Mumbai U19 finished their innings at 280/7. A competitive total.

Second Innings: Delhi U19 Batting

The Mumbai players got up and walked to their fielding positions.

Aryan looked at the clock. It was going to be a long afternoon.

The Delhi U19 team came out of their shells and began attacking profusely. Virat Kohli was batting like a man possessed.

They were relentless and gave the Mumbai bowlers little time to breathe.

The match went down to the wire.

Last Over. Delhi needed 10 runs to win. 1 wicket in hand.

Aryan, the all-rounder, was given the ball.

The Delhi striker, Pradeep Sangwan, got a chance

He shot the ball with a powerful slog—towards the mid-wicket boundary.

In the heat of the moment, the fielder Raul (let’s say Rohan) remembered the talk with Coach Kulkarni.

________________

[Locker room during Lunch]

Coach Kulkarni looked as Aryan went out to bat.

"I’m sure you were all wondering why I didn’t start Aryan. It’s because I saw him looking a bit nervous. We need to step up as men, not boys."

.-______________

[Present]

Rohan, with every fiber in his body, stretched to his fullest at the boundary line.

He got a minuscule touch which didn’t

seem much but was enough to parry the ball back into play, saving the six. It was just two runs.

The equation: 4 runs needed off 1 ball.

The Delhi non-striker (the last man) wanted to redeem himself and came out of his crease to run a bye if the keeper missed.

Aryan ran in to bowl the last ball.

He saw the batsman stepping out to create room.

Aryan bowled a Knuckleball.

The batsman swung hard. He mistimed it!

The ball went high in the air towards long-off.

It looked like it might land safe.

The batsmen ran one. They turned for two. They needed three to tie, four to win.

Aryan, who was supposed to follow through, saw the ball landing in no man’s land.

But wait—Rohan picked it up from the deep.

Aryan ran to the stumps at the bowler’s end.

"Throw it!" Aryan screamed.

Rohan threw the ball. It was a high throw.

Aryan jumped and gathered the ball.

The batsmen were turning for the third run (to tie).

The non-striker was scrambling.

Aryan landed, turned, and in one motion, threw the ball at the stumps at the striker’s end where the main batsman was running to.

Wait, the batsmen had crossed?

It was chaos.

Aryan saw the runner was short.

He shied at the stumps from a distance—the "halfway line" of the pitch.

"You know, why not try from here," Aryan thought.

He released the ball.

The ball soared in the air.

The batsman sped up and tried to slide his bat.

The ball hit the base of the stumps directly.

"OUT!"

Aryan like a maniac took off his cap and ran towards the boundary line.

The scenes were fantastic as the stadium which was silent erupted into cheers.

His teammates joined him and even Coach Kulkarni joined in on the fun as he ran onto the pitch.

Mumbai U19 had won by 1 run.

Aryan looked at the crowd and for a split second he thought he was going crazy when he saw a vision of his previous life’s idol, AB de Villiers, clapping (maybe a hallucination).

Then he saw the VIP box.

Wait—Priya, Riya, and Ananya were there?!

He looked closely and realized that they were really there. They had surprised him!

The celebrations continued as Mumbai U19 had just won the Vinoo Mankad Trophy for the second time in their history (in this timeline).

Aryan, who felt a sharp pain in his ankle from the landing, scrunched his face for a split second before ignoring the pain.

The bliss he felt was enough for him to throw the pain to the back of his head.

Although he had come on late, the match had taken its toll on him..

Aryan sighed and looked to the sky. "Dad, look at me. You looking?" he thought as he smiled.

(To be Continued)