The floodlights at Wankhede shimmered against the haze of a late evening. The final — Kerala versus Mumbai — had drawn a surprising crowd for an under-12 division match. Parents, scouts, and a few local reporters stood along the boundary. The air carried that faint metallic tang of sea wind and stadium dust.
Prince stood on the edge of the boundary rope, helmet under his arm, eyes trained on the middle. This was it. All the work, the training, the hours of sweat — it had come down to one game.
The System had been quiet all morning, running passive scans. Only now did its tone return.
SYSTEM: "Final detected. Context: High stakes. Mental tension: Elevated. Body Control – passive calibration enabled."
Prince took a slow breath. He felt the pulse of his heart, the warmth in his palms. He wasn't nervous — he told himself that — but when the umpire's whistle blew for the toss, his stomach fluttered.
Kerala won the toss. They would bat first.
Aru and Rohan opened the innings. They looked calm, both in crisp white pads, faces shining with determination. The first few overs were steady — dots, singles, soft pushes through gaps. Mumbai's bowlers, however, were relentless. Their captain, Prithvi Shaw, set aggressive fields. Young Sarfaraz Khan barked encouragement from cover.
By the eighth over, Kerala were 52 for 2. Then another wicket fell — Danish edged to slip. The next batsman followed quickly.
At 64 for 4, Prince walked in.
His shirt clung to his skin, and the sun above seemed to weigh on his shoulders. The crowd buzzed faintly.
SYSTEM: "Match context active. Objective: Stabilize innings. Recommended batting mode: Defensive rotation. Avoid aerial risk. Heart rate: 121 bpm — regulate."
He took guard. Bat down. Eyes level. He played okay until his last few overs...
Over 14 –
Ball 14.1: A good-length delivery outside off. Prince leaned forward and defended. No run.SYSTEM: "Wrist angle correction +0.4 suggested."Ball 14.2: Shorter, rising delivery. He swiveled but mistimed the pull. The ball fell dead in front of square. No run.Ball 14.3: Fuller again. Prince clipped it off his pads — they ran one. Relief flickered.Ball 14.4: Sharp bouncer. He ducked under, heart thudding.Ball 14.5: Yorker-length. He jammed it out, just in time. Dot ball.
The over ended. The crowd's noise blurred around him. He had only one run from five balls.
Next Over
Ball 15.1: Prince shuffled across and flicked gently for a single.Ball 15.2: A wide outside off — he left it alone.Ball 15.3: Another full one, this time straight. He tried to drive and missed.Ball 15.4: Yorker. He barely dug it out.Ball 15.5: Slow ball, Prince misread the pace, chipped it up — but it landed safe near mid-on.
He wasn't timing anything. The System hummed in his ear.
SYSTEM: "Cognitive drift detected. Focus ratio down 8%. Micro-fatigue evident. Mental restoration recommended."
He ignored it.
The next over sealed it.
Ball 16.3: Length ball on off. Prince lunged forward and nicked it. The keeper took a clean catch.
Out. 15 off 25 balls.
He stood frozen for a heartbeat. Then turned and walked off, every step heavier than the last. The noise of the ground dulled behind him.
The Fall
In the dressing room, Prince sat by himself, helmet on the floor, gloves hanging from his fingers. The System pinged again.
SYSTEM: "Negative affect spike. Cortisol level rising. Neural drift detected."
He didn't even look. His mind was a whirl of static — missed timing, bad footwork, hesitation.
The door creaked. Coach Gautam entered, leaning on the frame. He didn't say anything at first. He just looked at Prince, then sat beside him.
"You know," Gautam said finally, "every player has a day like this. What matters is what you do after."
Prince looked up, eyes rimmed with frustration.
"You're thinking too much about what went wrong. Don't. Just pattern up."
Prince frowned faintly.
"Fix your rhythm. Breathe. Focus on what you can control — line, seam, length. Forget everything else. This match isn't over. You've still got a spell to bowl."
Gautam's tone wasn't scolding — it was steady, grounding.
"Pattern up, Martin. Start small. One ball, one breath. That's all."
Prince nodded slowly.
SYSTEM: "Mentor input detected. Neural stability restored. Body Control: ready mode."
He exhaled, long and slow. The tremor in his hands faded.
Mumbai Innings
Kerala posted only 142. It wasn't much. Mumbai's batting looked strong — Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and a tall left-hander named Rohit Kamble.
Gautam threw the new ball to Prince in the sixth over.
SYSTEM: "Match role: Strike bowler. Objective: disrupt top order. Body Control: Performance Mode – Full Activation."
Prince rolled his shoulders, checked his grip, and began his run-up.
Over 6
Ball 6.1: Good length, shaping away. Shaw prodded and missed. The ball hissed past the edge.SYSTEM: "Seam deviation +4%. Maintain wrist tilt."
Ball 6.2: Slightly fuller. Shaw went for the drive — edged! Straight to slip. Caught. WICKET 1.
The small crowd of scouts and parents gasped and Prince spared his mother and father in the crowds a small smile. He didn't shout. He just turned, eyes calm, and walked back to his mark.
Ball 6.3: New batter — Sarfaraz Khan. Yorker, pinpoint. Sarfaraz jammed it out. Dot.Ball 6.4: Slower ball. Beaten completely. Dot.Ball 6.5: Back of a length, climbing towards the ribs. Sarfaraz tried to pull, missed. Dot.Ball 6.6: Perfect inswinger — pad rapped. Loud appeal. Finger up. WICKET 2 (LBW).
Two wickets in the over. The scoreboard: Mumbai 19 for 2.
SYSTEM: "Performance surge detected. Confidence +12%. Heart rate steady at 110 bpm."
Over 8
Ball 8.1: Off-cutter, angled into middle. Batter defends. Dot.Ball 8.2: Another off-cutter, slower, dips late. Edged — caught by Faizal at second slip! WICKET 3.Ball 8.3: Short ball, batter sways away. Dot.Ball 8.4: Yorker, aimed at off stump. Beaten. Dot.Ball 8.5: Full, straight, and seaming back. Batter drives — inside edge onto pad. Dot.Ball 8.6: Prince bends his wrist and sends a dipping cutter. Batter misjudges, lobs it back — simple catch to bowler. WICKET 4.
Four wickets already. The crowd roared now.
SYSTEM: "Opponent morale down 70%. Stamina reserve: optimal. Continue pressure sequence."
Over 10
New batter: Yashasvi Jaiswal. Calm stance, watching.
Ball 10.1: Fast and straight. Jaiswal defended. Dot.Ball 10.2: Shorter. He ducked. Dot.Ball 10.3: Slow ball outside off — played late, missed. Dot.Ball 10.4: Yorker. Beaten again. Dot.Ball 10.5: Prince angled one in, perfect line. Jaiswal poked, edge taken by keeper. WICKET 5.
Five wickets. Kerala's fielders swarmed him, shouting his name.
Prince didn't celebrate wildly. He only nodded once, calm, centered.
SYSTEM: "Milestone achieved: Fifer. Overs: 3. Runs: 1. Wickets: 5. Accuracy rate 98%. Seam control stable."
Over 12
Ball 12.1–12.6: Dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. The batters couldn't touch him. The System kept his breathing perfectly synchronized, heart steady as clockwork.
The scoreboard barely moved: 47 for 8.
Over 15
Prince's final over.
Ball 15.1: Fuller ball outside off — driven, but straight to cover. No run.Ball 15.2: Off-cutter, hits the seam, beats outside edge.Ball 15.3: Yorker again. Beaten.Ball 15.4: Slower one, checked. Dot.Ball 15.5: In-swinger, cramps batter — defended.Ball 15.6: Final ball, seamed away — missed again.
Five overs, one run, five wickets.
Final figures: 5-0-1-5.
Mumbai were bowled out for 72. Kerala had won the final by 70 runs.
Aftermath
As the team charged the field, Prince just stood there for a moment, still gripping the ball. His eyes flicked to the scoreboard, then to the sky.
SYSTEM: "Match complete. Objective achieved. Reward allocation pending. Emotional baseline: Stabilized. Confidence restoration complete."
Coach Gautam approached him, clapping once, firm and proud.
"Now that's what I meant," he said. "Pattern up, Martin. That's how you answer back."
Prince's throat felt tight. He smiled, small and honest.
The medal ceremony blurred in lights and noise — cheers, flashes, the smell of grass underfoot. When his name was called as Player of the Final, he looked up once more at the night sky above Mumbai.
This time, there was no bitterness, no ghosts from his past life whispering failure.
Only quiet pride.
And in the silence of his mind, the System whispered:
"Next stage unlocked."