Chapter 60: The Executioner's Debt
The break between innings was over.
The ten minutes of respite had been a blur of physical agony and silent, focused psychological warfare.
Raghav stood at the boundary rope, his right arm hanging heavy and numb.
The simple act of putting on his cap and retrieving his fielding uniform was a profound struggle, a silent battle against the structural protest of his torn rotator cuff.
He had used the limited time not for rest, but for a frantic, chemical application of recovery gels to his shoulder, hoping to dull the nerve signals just enough to survive the next twenty minutes.
He felt the eyes on him.
The entire Kamrup dugout, including Rohan, Rishi, and the silent, observing Rajat, watched him. They had witnessed his 65 not-out, but they had also witnessed his confession—that he couldn't bowl.
