Chapter 59: Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Rest of India [2]: Masterclass

The stadium erupted into cheers after Aryan scored that beautiful six off the Free Hit. One might say the fans were expecting the Ranji champions to fold against the national stars.

But they had proven them wrong with the stellar resilience they had put on since the top-order collapse.

Coach Amre couldn’t stop smiling on the balcony. "Hey Kulkarni," he said, drawing the attention of Assistant Coach Kulkarni who stood behind him.

"Make notes of Aryan’s bat swing against pace and give them to me after the match. I need to train him to face express pace like Shoaib Akhtar," he said, drawing a confused stare from Kulkarni.

Assistant Coach Kulkarni did it nonetheless. The match continued and it seemed that Aryan’s six had brought the Rest of India to their senses.

Captain Dhoni had put two fielders in the deep on the leg side after the match restarted. The two seemed to be doing their work well as Aryan was being deprived of the chance to even rotate the strike easily.

Aryan didn’t mind as there is a saying, ’silent but deadly’. He therefore kept trying to minimize his risk while not putting his team at risk of a stagnating run rate.

Rest of India, now with the ball, were trying in earnest to bowl Mumbai out before they reached 250.

Harbhajan Singh got the ball from Dhoni. Harbhajan didn’t wait around for long and started bowling his doosras.

Aditya Tare tried sweeping him in hopes to regain momentum. Harbhajan, however, kept it tight and bowled a flatter trajectory.

Tare, after surviving the over, passed the strike to Aryan who was near him.

Aryan, after facing the ball, decided to change the direction of play. He used his wrists to steer the ball. He played a late cut to the third man boundary against the spinner.

His shot was well played and found its way to the boundary, beating the short third man who attempted to dive but was unsuccessful.

The match was going a bit dull and all Mumbai could do was play defensive shots against the tight bowling.

Rest of India’s bowling was that compact and coordinated. Unconsciously, the Mumbai players started getting complacent and letting their guard down.

Even Aryan, who had a very high [Spatial Awareness], also found himself under the radar.

He didn’t notice this until Sreesanth sent a lethal yorker that almost crushed his toes.

Sreesanth took advantage of the opposition’s confusion and bowled a bouncer next.

Aryan, wanting to initiate a counter-attack, hooked the ball.

The shot got the fielder at fine leg on guard. The ball flew towards him.

The fielder, Yuvraj Singh, adjusted his body before pulling off a spectacular diving stop to keep the ball from crossing the rope.

Aryan couldn’t help but sigh at the missed boundary. The shot was perfect but Yuvraj had proved even better with his fielding.

Dhoni walked over to the bowler after the over. He took the ball from Sreesanth and had a quick chat.

Sreesanth went back to his mark and bowled a wide yorker.

Aryan felt uncomfortable as the fielders were limiting his scoring areas, so he went ahead and shuffled across before scooping the ball over the keeper.

The ball went a bit high as the players went chasing it. Munaf Patel (sub fielder) however got to it first before throwing it back.

Aryan took a double and faced his opponent. Anil Kumble was back into the attack.

Kumble, the legend, tried to trap the kid.

Aryan, however, expertly read the googly before stepping out and driving it along the ground.

The drive however came in fast and sharp. The Rest of India fielders all thought the ball would be cut off by mid-off and therefore didn’t really try to chase it.

Unfortunately for them, being the technician he was, Aryan had placed it perfectly to split the field. The ball raced into the boundary cushions.

Dhoni, who couldn’t even react to what was happening, just adjusted his gloves.

The Mumbai players all clapped from the dugout.

Friendly or not, this was probably one of the best innings Aryan had played against international quality bowling. Google seaʀᴄh novèlfire.net

The youngster, earlier that year, had expressed his desire to play for India to fulfill his father’s dream.

And it seems it was the start for him.

Tare stood at the non-striker’s end watching Aryan dominate.

Aryan couldn’t help but be angry at himself for failing to be more aggressive earlier when the spinners were settling in.

"I have to step up my game. Dot balls could cost the team during the IPL selection and in important matches."

If anyone heard Aryan’s thoughts, they would be surprised that a 15-year-old was thinking .

He had already done incredibly well as what he was doing was even unheard of. A 15-year-old who was already holding the innings together for the Ranji Champions.

A 15-year-old who was already playing this well against arguably the best bowlers in the country and had even scored a half-century.

A 15-year-old holding his own and even doing better against grownups that were giants of the game.

The umpire signaled the start of the Powerplay (if applicable in 2007 rules or death overs).

Aryan looked at the scoreboard before finally accepting that for a collapse recovery, they had done considerably well.

Mumbai: 210/5 (45 Overs).

’What an exciting innings this has been folks. Aryan Sharma has performed spectacularly well as he’s unleashed a flurry of shots even under pressure.

It’s now Mumbai 210 for 5. The umpire has restarted the match so let’s continue with the action.’

Tare passed the strike to Aryan who was behind the crease after the restart. Aryan defended the ball back to buy time in order for him to read the field.

The Mumbai players played singles back and forth trying to maximize the death overs and this continued for a while.

Mumbai got a chance in the dying embers of the first innings. Aryan, who had been silent for a while, moved into 5th gear and started finding boundaries.

The sudden spark of life made the Rest of India players panic a bit. Aryan took advantage of this situation and spearheaded an attack that would prove to be the highlight of the innings.

Aryan with his bat speed started smashing the ball to all parts of the ground. Without using any flashy skills yet, Aryan got to 85*.

He was hurriedly scanning his surroundings looking for a gap or for a loose ball.

Seeing that no loose ball was coming, Aryan decided to manufacture a shot. Aryan shuffled way outside off stump as if to paddle sweep.

The Rest of India bowler, RP Singh, who had already witnessed his scoop prowess, moved his line wide outside off to counter.

As he committed to the wide yorker, Aryan cheekily rolled his wrists and played a reverse slice over third man.

The players who saw this panicked at first but then they relaxed a bit as they saw the fielder at third man running in.

This meant he probably could catch it. As if listening to their thoughts, the ball dipped just in front of the fielder, bouncing over his head for four.

"Improviser," he thought.

[Improviser trait has been activated], the sweet sound of the mechanical voice rang through his mind.

As soon as Aryan’s bat connected with the next ball, that was all that was needed. The ball left Aryan’s bat with a burst of speed that was way too fast for the fielders’ reaction.

The ball zoomed past the bowler and the umpire before hitting the sight screen.

The sound of the ball hitting the screen rang through the stadium as the players tried to comprehend what had happened.

The ball clearing the rope was all the fans needed to scream at the top of their lungs. Aryan with a smile etched on his face raised his bat.

His team, after coming to their senses, stood up and applauded. Aryan took off his helmet and bowed.

At that instant, he remembered a Yuvraj Singh celebration he had seen.

He pointed his bat to the dugout before kissing the Mumbai crest on his shirt.

Coach Amre almost ran onto the pitch if not for Assistant Coach Kulkarni holding him back.

"What the fuck was that?" thought Dhoni who still stood behind the stumps.

"Was he trying to break the screen?" he muttered.

"Have you tried to contact his agent?" a voice spoke as he looked on at the scenes in front of him. It was the head scout of the Mumbai Indians.

"Yes we did and we also contacted the MCA but they said he’s under a lock-in contract right now," a small voice responded.

"But from what I heard, he signed a new contract right. How much was the buyout?" the first voice asked.

"How much was what sir?" the meek voice replied.

sigh "The release clause, how much was it?" the first voice said again.

"It’s 80 Crore rupees sir for foreign leagues, but for IPL, he enters the auction pool," the meek voice replied.

The first voice remained silent for a while before speaking again.

"It’s not a bad deal for such a talent... we need him as an Icon Player for the future."

"That would be the case but we can’t currently sign him directly sir," the meek voice replied suggestively.

"Well sir, the auction rules say we have to bid. And everyone will be bidding."

"Okay then, let’s try to gather funds and get him then. I don’t want to miss out on such a talent. Ambani wants the best."

The Mumbai Indians scout looked at Aryan from the VIP room in the Wankhede. "I’d like to have him," he thought as he stared at Aryan.

The second innings had already began and the Rest of India were chasing 285.

It was now the 30th over and Rest of India were cruising at 180/2.

Sehwag and Gambhir had given them a flyer, and now Yuvraj Singh was at the crease.

They eventually got their chance 7 minutes later with a well-planned attack started by Dhoni who promoted himself up the order.

He found Yuvraj after playing a defensive push.

Yuvraj began going on a blazing run of boundaries before he eventually mistimed one.

Aryan signaled to the bowler, Powar, to bowl slower.

This resulted in a mistimed shot that saw Yuvraj getting caught at deep mid-wicket.

Coach Amre was relieved as he saw the dangerous man walking off. He recomposed himself after celebrating for a bit before making a change.

He took off the spinner and brought on Aryan to bowl.

Dhoni stepped forward and took the strike.

A staredown was now happening between the two sides. The future ’Thala’ vs the ’Wonderkid’.

’It’s now bowler and captain. Aryan and Dhoni. Who will gain the upper hand in this face-off? Now Aryan runs in... and bowls a knuckleball!’

Dhoni, deceived by the dip, chipped it back to the bowler. But it fell just short.

The match dulled after that as it seemed neither team wanted to take unnecessary risks. Rest of India needed 60 runs in 10 overs.

Well, all except for one. Aryan who didn’t want to relent approached Jaffer.

"One last burst," was all he said before taking his mark. "This kid never gets satisfied," Jaffer said.

"Why do you talk like you’re that old, you just turned 30 and its not like you act that mature," Rohit who was fielding at mid-off roared.

"Ouch," Jaffer acted as if the words had physically hurt him.

Aryan ran in. He bowled a perfect yorker to Dhoni.

The next ball, Aryan banged it in short. Dhoni hooked. Top edge!

The ball flew to fine leg. The fielder ran in... and took it!

The stadium was sent into a frenzy as the fans and players alike erupted into cheers. Coach Amre this time couldn’t contain himself and celebrated on the touchline.

Aryan ran towards the section where the Mumbai fans were and pumped his fist.

He had just finished with his masterclass! Mumbai won by 15 runs.