Ambition was a dangerous thing in English cricket.
Say too much and you were labelled arrogant. Say nothing and you were overlooked. Zayn Rahman learned quickly that the trick wasn't hiding ambition—it was carrying it quietly.
The headlines didn't wait for him to decide.
RAHMAN: ENGLAND'S NEXT THREE-FORMAT OPTION?
ANDERSON-LIKE SWING, ROOT-LIKE TEMPERAMENT
He scrolled past them without reading the comments. Praise inflated expectations. Expectations crushed careers.
Lancashire's schedule refused to slow. Championship cricket bled into Blast fixtures, then a return to red-ball grind. Zayn moved through formats like changing gears—never rushing, never stalling.
At Trent Bridge, under clear skies, he faced a different test. Nottinghamshire's attack was sharper this time. Luke Fletcher found seam. Brett Hutton swung it late. The pitch offered less forgiveness.
Zayn edged early. Caught at second slip.
Golden duck.
The system registered the anomaly instantly.
[Performance Variance Detected]
[Mental Stability: Monitoring]
He didn't slam his bat. Didn't look back. He walked off, jaw set, mind already dissecting the mistake. One ball. One lapse. That was all it took.
Later, with the ball, he responded the only way he knew how—accuracy. Swing. Relentlessness. He bowled nine overs on the bounce, hit the seam, forced batters to play.
Two wickets.
Control restored.
That night, alone in the hotel, the system projected quietly:
[Long-Term Goal Identified]
[Ashes: Priority – High]
[ICC Tournaments: World Cup (ODI, T20) – Ultimate Objective]
Zayn didn't flinch.
That had always been the dream. Not just playing for England—winning for England. In Australia. In India. On neutral grounds where pressure crushed reputations.
The Ashes first. You earned everything else there.
The next week brought a different stage. A Blast match at Edgbaston. Birmingham buzzing. Lights sharp. Music loud.
Lancashire chased a tricky total. Zayn opened again.
First over: six, four, dot, single.
The crowd leaned forward.
Second over: slower balls. Wide yorkers.
Zayn adjusted. No panic. He ramped one deliberately over short fine leg—not audacious, just calculated.
Root would've approved.
He reached fifty off thirty-five balls. Buttler, watching from the non-striker's end, nodded.
"That's how you do it," he said.
Lancashire won with an over to spare.
With the ball, Zayn wasn't used immediately. The captain waited. Trusted his instincts. He brought him on when the opposition tried to rebuild.
Two overs. One wicket. Six runs.
Job done.
After the match, the England question came again.
"You've been mentioned as a future Ashes option," a reporter said. "Is that something you think about?"
Zayn paused.
"Every England cricketer does," he said carefully. "But you don't earn Ashes caps in interviews."
That clip went viral.
Later that week, the squad traveled south for a Championship match at The Oval. Surrey's batting lineup loomed large. Rory Burns. Ollie Pope. Ben Foakes.
Runs wouldn't come easy.
Zayn dug in again. Forty-one on a pitch that offered late movement. Not glamorous. Crucial.
But it was with the ball that he made the statement.
The new Duke ball swung. Zayn felt it immediately. Rhythm. Wrist position perfect. Anderson's lessons—observed, studied, internalized—came alive.
Burns nicked one he didn't need to play.
Pope followed, beaten by one that held its line.
Two England batters. Two wickets.
The dressing room went quiet.
The system pulsed harder than before.
[High-Stakes Impact: Confirmed]
[Ashes Viability Index: Rising]
That evening, as players drifted toward recovery areas, Zayn found Lauren Bell seated near the physio room, scrolling through her phone.
"Busy few weeks," she said, looking up.
"Feels like everything's happening at once," he replied.
She nodded. "That's usually when you find out who you are."
He smiled faintly. "And?"
"Looks like you're finding out just fine."
Not flirtation. Not distraction.
Understanding.
The system logged it.
[Romantic Progression: 4% – Trust and Recognition]
Later that night, Zayn wrote something down in his notebook. Not stats. Not goals scored.
Win everywhere. Earn it.
The Ashes weren't a fantasy. World Cups weren't slogans.
They were destinations.
And every ball he faced—or bowled—was a step closer.
End of Chapter 3
Author's Comment
Chapter 3 sharpens Zayn's long-term ambition: not just selection, but winning across all formats, with the Ashes as the defining benchmark. Setbacks are introduced early to ground his rise and keep tension real.
The romance continues to build through shared pressure and mutual respect rather than overt emotion.