God of Cricket!-Chapter 48: Solo Leve— Uh, Innings

Chapter 48 : Solo Leve— Uh, Innings

"Okay guys, gather around," Coach Kulkarni said, clapping his hands.

The players had to take a minute to stabilize their breathing, leaning on their bats or sitting on the lush turf of The Oval.

The past few days had been hell for most of the players.

The training regimen for them in the English conditions had been awfully taxing.

This was because it was meant to acclimatize the players who were used to the humidity of Mumbai to the swinging and seaming conditions of London.

"Wow, being young must be nice," Rohit Sharma said while looking at Aryan, who was juggling a cricket ball effortlessly, barely breaking a sweat.

All the senior players around him started glaring at him playfully.

"Bruh, you’re only 20," Aryan said with eyebrows raised at Rohit.

Aryan walked over to Coach Praveen Amre and the other players followed suit.

"Okay guys, I can see that your fitness levels are getting back up, but it’s not quite there yet. Use this time period to sharpen yourself before the start of the Ranji season or else you’ll be seeing more of the bench," Coach Amre said sternly.

"Okay, the match with Surrey 2nd XI will be in two days, so the playing XI will be announced tomorrow."

"This will be a match to try out our youth players as well as test match sharpness, so give everything you’ve got," Coach Amre finished.

After he was done, the players started dispersing to the dressing rooms. "Aryan, a word," Coach Amre said to Aryan as he was leaving.

Aryan turned back and walked towards Coach Amre. "Hello Coach. What can I do for you?" Aryan said politely.

"I see you’ve kept fit and are in good shape, and that’s commendable. I’ll get to the point. The little glimpses you showed at the end of last season and in the nets were spectacular. So I’ve been asked by the selectors to give you a chance in a specific role."

"Honestly, I have no problem as your skill is way above your age and you have the mindset and discipline. So, I will be playing you at Number 4."

"You’ll serve as the link between the top order and the finishers. You anchor if we lose wickets early, and you attack if we have a platform. So don’t let me down, okay?" Coach Amre ended.

"Yes Coach, I won’t let you down," Aryan said. Coach Amre walked off and left Aryan to his own devices.

The following 2 days passed quickly as the day of the match was upon them.

The Oval, London

The historic Kennington Oval was not at full capacity for a practice match, but the turnout was impressive for a non-international game. The chants of the Indian diaspora spectators were blazing through the air.

The players who started coming out of the pavilion prompted the fans to shout loudly.

Aryan, who was walking onto the pitch, couldn’t help but be surprised at the atmosphere.

"Guess people here do really love their cricket," he muttered.

The players and the match officials quickly got the pleasantries out of the way, and soon enough, the match was underway.

[COMMENTATOR POV]

’Hello everyone, welcome to The Oval here in London.

This will be a thrilling One-Day match between two giants of different cricketing worlds: Mumbai Ranji Team from India and Surrey County Cricket Club (XI) here in England.

Now let’s get right into the match.’

[Before the start of the match]

"Hey Kevin, what are you so focused on?" one of the reserve players of the Surrey academy asked from the stands.

"Ah, it’s nothing," Kevin replied, eyes fixed on the Mumbai dugout.

The player shrugged and left Kevin alone. "So this is what he meant by we’ll be meeting soon," Kevin thought.

The match began with Mumbai batting first. Ajinkya Rahane and Wasim Jaffer opened the innings.

Rahane took the strike. He passed the strike to Jaffer with a quick single.

Mumbai lost Jaffer early to a swinging delivery. Aryan walked in at Number 3 (promoted slightly due to the wicket).

The Mumbai side was playing a balanced lineup.

The starting lineup consisted of some young and veteran players at the club which was done so that the young players could learn from the older ones.

Aryan immediately faced Stuart Meaker, a fast bowler known for his pace.

Aryan released the pressure by driving the ball to Rohit Sharma (batting at 4, assuming Rahane got out or rotated). No, let’s say Aryan rotated strike to Ajinkya Rahane.

Aryan, after getting to know the players, had used the Snoop Function on them and had found out their strengths and a bit about their weaknesses.

[Snoop Result: Surrey Bowler - Stuart Meaker]

Strength: Raw Pace (85)

Weakness: Consistency (Line & Length)

Rahane laid it off to Aryan who had insisted on playing aggressively.

Aryan immediately looked up and spotted the gap at cover.

The Surrey players were trying their best to restrict the scoring, but they were struggling to do it against the Mumbai technique.

Aryan, after a bit of a partnership through the middle overs, passed the strike to Rohit Sharma, who had come in after Rahane.

Rohit, after controlling the ball, quickly slashed the ball to deep point.

The Surrey youngster fielding there tried to cut it off.

Rohit, with a beautiful set of wristy shots, quickly manipulated the field.

Rohit nudged the ball forward and called for a quick single, trying to use his pace to overcome the fielder’s arm, but was of no use as the fielder was sharp.

Rohit quickly stopped risky runs when he saw Aryan signal him to wait.

Rohit passed the strike to Aryan who took a deft touch (defense) before maneuvering his way through a spell of aggressive bowling.

Aryan, as swift as a Gazelle, started making runs between the wickets, turning ones into twos.

The opposing bowlers tried to get him out with bouncers and yorkers, but Aryan was moving his feet as if the bat was an extension of his body.

Coach Amre, who saw this, smiled as he didn’t have to worry about his Middle Order this season as he knew it was in good hands.

"Even though he’s a kid, he doesn’t show it and plays with a lot of maturity," Coach Amre thought.

"How can he play like that amongst such professionals?" Kevin, who was in the stands, muttered.

Aryan continued his innings, looking around to spot any gaps he could pierce.

Rohit Sharma didn’t disappoint as he made a timely call for a run.

Aryan, seeing this, didn’t waste any time and immediately lofted the ball over the Surrey infield.

The players couldn’t react, and Rohit carefully watched the ball race to the boundary before punching gloves with Aryan to celebrate Mumbai’s 100th run.

The people who could be spotted wearing the India jerseys erupted into cheers.

The Surrey fans, however, kept quiet.

It was just the start of the match and there was more to come, but conceding the momentum still irked them.

Surrey’s Turn (Bowling/Fielding Response)

After the drinks break, the Surrey team got into the offense as they tried to take wickets.

A bowler—of theirs banged the ball short.

The ball went forward and was expertly controlled by their slip cordon... wait.

The Twist

Surrey’s spinner came on. He bowled a flighted delivery.

Rohit tried to drive, but the ball gripped and turned. The fielder at short cover slid in and stopped a certain boundary.

The shouts of the Surrey fans kept getting loud as their first chance of the game came.

The bowler picked up the ball and quickly bowled the next one. Rohit used his feet to get around the spin.

After beating the infield, Rohit quickly looked up and spotted the gap at deep mid-wicket.

With a definitive shot, the player sent the ball into the stands—no, wait. The ball went high.

The Surrey fielder jumped high and met the ball with a timely catch which would have been out if not for the sun getting in his eyes.

The fielder sent the ball back. Danger was still not out of the way.

Rory Burns (young Surrey player), one of the fielders, threw the ball to the keeper.

Just as the ball reached the keeper, Rohit Sharma was out of his crease, backing up too far.

This prompted the umpire call for a review.

The umpire pointed to the square leg umpire indicating a Run Out.

The Mumbai players approached the umpire who was also consulting his assistant referees (Third Umpire) in hopes that he could overturn his decision.

After a few seconds, however, the wicket was given as Rohit’s bat was in the air when the bails were whipped off.

Rohit couldn’t help but sigh. Aryan walked up to him and tried comforting him.

Rohit smiled wryly at Aryan before returning to the pavilion.

"Even if this is pre-season, I have to up my game as I can’t afford to make such petty mistakes if I want to be a regular for India," was what was going on through Rohit’s mind.

The new batsman walked in. The score was 120/3.

Surrey took momentum. A few overs later, a controversial LBW was given against Abhishek Nayar.

The stadium erupted into cheers and shouts as the umpire raised the finger.

The Surrey fans started cheering loudly for their team.

The celebrations went on for a bit before the umpire could restart the match.

The Mumbai players who had lost their advantage kicked into high gear as they tried to gain back the momentum they lost.

The players tried to find a way to score, and Aryan, who was at the heart of this, was rotating strike here and there trying to help his teammates score.

Unfortunately, his teammates would either play dot balls or the Surrey team would put up a splendid defensive show in the field.

The team had been rejuvenated after taking wickets. The match was now entering the latter stages of the first innings (40th Over).

It was now the 40th over and the ball was with Mumbai.

Mumbai had about 60% win probability—by Aryan’s estimation, but they needed a strong finish.

Aryan, who had tried to create gaps and chances for his teammates, was now getting a bit irked by the fact that they hadn’t been able to convert starts into big scores.

"Okay Fuck it, I’m going solo," Aryan resolutely thought before deciding to go berserk.

Aryan, after taking the strike from the new batsman, quickly turned and started attacking the opposition bowlers.

With his terrifying bat speed (Speed 90) and numerous set of skills, Aryan made quick work of the opposition bowling attack.

Aryan, facing two fielders on the leg side, quickly did a Scoop Shot (Rainbow flick equivalent) before squeezing the ball through the fine leg region.

This act drew a bit of ’ooohs’ and ’aahs’ from the crowd.

Aryan trapped the next delivery and continued his assault.

A bowler from the Surrey team decided to disrupt Aryan’s rhythm with a bouncer.

The player moved forward to try and bounce him out, but all he saw was Aryan using the Switch Hit and flashing the ball past point.

Aryan got away past another fielder with a quick change of pace between the wickets.

All this got the crowd on the edge of their seats as they saw this beautiful scene in front of them.

Aryan came across 2 more overs of death bowling and was running out of options.

Aryan, after a bit of deliberation in a small time span, decided to use the good ol’ fakes—stepping out then defending, then stepping out and smashing—and quickly got those bowlers out of the equation.

Aryan was now facing the last over. He was on 94*.

He was one-on-one with the bowler. The keeper tried to make himself big—standing up to the stumps to prevent the single.

Aryan simply rolled his wrists to the left, evading the keeper’s reach, playing a Reverse Paddle.

The ball raced into the boundary netting.

FOUR!

And with that, Century!

Silence rang across the stadium momentarily before shouts could be heard again. "What the heck just happened? Hey, who’s that?" were all the fans were asking.

The commentator was in a frenzy as he couldn’t find any words to describe the innings he had just seen.

It was simply magical. The Surrey fans couldn’t help but clap for Aryan who was getting mobbed by his teammates.

"What the heck bro?" Rohit Sharma yelled from the dugout. "Wonderful my friend," Ajinkya Rahane said while hugging Aryan.

"Ah, if only Rohit could be a bit like you," Zaheer Khan said, trying to get on Rohit’s nerves.

It seemed to be working as Rohit looked like he could strangle Zaheer at any moment.

"Nice one kiddo," Coach Amre said as he ruffled Aryan’s hair (via helmet).

Aryan smiled at him before they both returned to the dressing room for the innings break.

[In the stands]

"How can a 15-year-old do that?" James (Kevin’s rival) muttered.

He had come to watch the match in hopes that he could see how Aryan would do against professionals.

He was surprised to find Aryan in the playing XI but deemed it trivial as the team was maybe using pre-season to train the youth.

He was wowed by Aryan’s technique that led to the partnership.

But now what Aryan had just done—a century in a T20/One Day warm-up against English conditions—was out of this world.

"Haaaaah, he makes me look like I’m not even trying," James said in a depressing tone.

The match restarted for the second innings, but the buzz was all about the kid from Mumbai.