Cricket Ascend System

For the next few days—

Riverside Gully cricket changed completely.

Not because of Sameer Malik.

Not because of the Azad Nagar Tigers.

Because of Sahil Choudhary.

Every evening after school, boys gathered early now.

Not to play.

To watch.

Because everyone wanted to see if Sunday was luck—

or something real.

"Again teams?"

"Yeah but Sahil batting first today."

"Don’t give him full tosses."

"Bowling short also dangerous now."

The way people talked about him had completely changed.

Earlier they hid him near the drain during fielding.

Now teams argued over who got Sahil first.

But Sahil himself understood something important.

That innings was special.

Too special.

Repeating it wouldn’t be easy.

Especially after reading the system analysis repeatedly.

Too many sixes came from mistimed shots.

Too much depended on raw power.

That wouldn’t last forever.

That evening, Sahil arrived an hour early.

The gully was almost empty except for Ravi sitting near the scooters.

"You came early?"

Sahil nodded.

"Need practice."

Ravi smirked.

"Now suddenly hardworking?"

Sahil laughed lightly.

But after Ravi left to buy water—

the blue screen appeared again.

DAILY TASKS

1500 Shadow Swings

Reward: +1 Control

500 Front Foot Movements

Reward: +1 Timing

20 Clean Straight Drives

Reward: Minor Timing Growth

Play 30 Balls Without Losing Shape

Reward: +1 Match Awareness

Progress resets daily.

The rewards already looked smaller now.

Earlier one mission gave huge bonuses.

Now?

Tiny growth.

Slow growth.

Real growth.

Sahil picked up the bat quietly.

Then started shadow swinging.

Again.

Again.

Again.

At first his movements looked rough.

Wild.

Too much shoulder rotation.

Too much bottom-hand force.

But slowly—

his swings became straighter.

Cleaner.

After nearly twenty minutes—

the system finally responded.

TRAINING UPDATE

Shadow Swings: 483/1500

Observation: Bat path becoming more stable.

Major Weakness Remaining: Host overuses power during downswing.

Sahil wiped sweat from his forehead.

Even practice felt different now.

Earlier he just hit randomly.

Now every movement had purpose.

Soon the other boys arrived.

And naturally—

a match started.

Evening Match

Shastri Strikers vs Patel Colony Kings

15 Overs

Target: 132

The Patel Colony Kings weren’t as strong as Azad Nagar Tigers.

But after hearing about Sahil’s innings—

they came prepared.

Very prepared.

"No slot balls."

"Keep field deep."

"Don’t panic if he hits one six."

Their captain Deepak understood something important already.

Sahil loved rhythm.

If boundaries started flowing—

he became dangerous quickly.

Shastri Strikers started steadily this time.

Ravi and Arjun added 42 runs early.

But after Ravi got out trying to attack spin—

momentum slowed again.

Score Update

Shastri Strikers — 61/3 (8 Overs)

Required: 71 Runs from 42 Balls

Sahil walked in at number five this time.

And immediately—

fielders spread backward.

The reaction felt strange honestly.

People feared his hitting now.

First few balls were quiet.

Singles.

One mistimed pull for two.

No sixes.

No chaos.

And surprisingly—

Sahil didn’t force anything.

Because now he understood something from the system:

Not every ball needed power.

Then came Deepak’s over.

Medium pace.

Good control.

Smart bowler.

Second ball.

Short outside off.

Sahil tried upper-cutting instinctively.

MISS.

The keeper collected easily.

Earlier Sahil would’ve gotten frustrated immediately.

Now—

he stayed calm.

Because the system appeared afterward.

SHOT ANALYSIS COMPLETE

Weaknesses: ✘ Head falling early ✘ Shot attempted before reading bounce ✘ Excessive eagerness after scoring pause

Bowler Intent: Provoking risky release shot.

Sahil narrowed his eyes slightly.

So Deepak noticed he was getting impatient.

Interesting.

Next ball.

Same length.

Same setup.

This time Sahil waited longer.

Swing.

CRACK.

FOUR through point.

Clean.

Controlled.

Not powerful.

Timed.

Even Ravi noticed immediately.

"You’re not just slogging anymore..."

Sahil smiled slightly.

Because honestly—

that felt even better than sixes.

Still—

his power remained terrifying.

A few overs later, Deepak bowled full near leg stump.

Sahil flicked awkwardly.

Not even proper connection.

Yet—

SIX.

The ball flew onto a parked auto-rickshaw outside the lane.

Everybody groaned instantly.

"Again this nonsense power!"

"How does mistime become six?!"

Even Sahil laughed this time.

Because honestly—

he still couldn’t believe it either.

SHOT ANALYSIS COMPLETE

Connection Quality: 34%

Timing: 41%

Result Cause: ✔ Exceptional wrist speed ✔ Strong bottom-hand acceleration

Weakness: Host still relying excessively on hand power instead of positioning.

The system repeated that weakness constantly now.

Which meant one thing:

It mattered.

A lot.

By the end of the match—

Sahil finished with 54 off 21 balls.

Not as explosive as before.

But smarter.

Cleaner.

More controlled.

And slowly—

Riverside Gully started realizing something dangerous.

Sunday wasn’t luck.

Sahil Choudhary was genuinely improving.