Chapter 120: The Art of the Chase
The roar of the crowd echoed through the tunnel.
One by one, the Himachal Pradesh players walked onto the field beneath the morning sun.
Sahil adjusted the strap of his helmet and glanced around the stadium.
Yesterday, he had stepped onto this ground as an unknown debutant.
Today...
People in the stands pointed toward him.
"There..."
"That’s the finisher from yesterday."
He heard the whispers but kept walking.
Coach Rana’s words replayed in his mind.
"Don’t play for headlines. Play for the badge."
---
The opposition captain won the toss.
"We’ll bat first."
Coach Rana nodded calmly.
"Good."
He gathered the players into a tight huddle.
"Same energy."
"Same discipline."
"No shortcuts."
Every hand came together.
"Himachal!"
---
The new ball swung beautifully under the cool mountain air.
Rohan struck first in the third over.
An outside edge flew safely into the wicketkeeper’s gloves.
The crowd erupted.
"That’s one!"
Danish shouted from the boundary.
The opposition rebuilt patiently.
Their number three and four refused to panic, rotating the strike and punishing loose deliveries.
By the twenty-fifth over, the scoreboard read:
148/2
Coach Rana folded his arms.
"They’re building toward two-forty."
Coach Kapoor nodded.
"We need wickets now."
---
The breakthrough came unexpectedly.
Vivaan’s deceptive leg-spin tempted the batter down the track.
He missed completely.
The bails exploded into the air.
"Got him!"
The momentum shifted.
Suddenly...
The fielders came alive.
Every dot ball brought louder cheers.
Every single became hard-earned.
The pressure mounted.
---
Sahil, stationed at deep midwicket, watched everything carefully.
The batter repeatedly shuffled across his stumps before attempting the sweep.
Observer’s Eye instinctively highlighted the pattern.
"He premeditates against spin."
The familiar blue text flashed only for a second before disappearing.
Next over...
The batter attempted the same shot.
This time the ball bounced slightly more.
Top edge.
High into the sky.
"Sahil!"
His eyes never left the ball.
He settled underneath it.
Hands soft.
Body balanced.
The ball dropped cleanly into his palms.
The stadium erupted.
---
"Brilliant catch!"
Aryan slapped him on the back.
Vivaan pointed toward him.
"I owe you one."
Sahil smiled.
"You owe me dinner."
Laughter spread across the field.
---
The wickets continued falling.
The opposition, once cruising comfortably, lost rhythm completely.
Late boundaries pushed their total higher, but Himachal had successfully restricted them.
Final Score
Opposition – 224/8 (40 overs)
A competitive target.
Nothing impossible.
Nothing easy.
---
Inside the dressing room, Coach Rana walked directly toward the whiteboard.
Without speaking, he wrote a single number.
225
He underlined it once.
Then turned around.
"This isn’t a score."
"It’s forty overs of decisions."
His eyes swept across the batting unit.
"Nobody wins a chase in the first five overs."
"And nobody should lose it there either."
---
Coach Kapoor stepped forward.
"Remember yesterday."
He looked directly at Sahil.
"What made your innings successful?"
Sahil answered quietly.
"I settled first."
Coach nodded.
"Exactly."
He turned to the rest of the squad.
"The scoreboard creates pressure."
"Your process removes it."
---
The players began strapping on pads.
Arjun tightened his gloves before sitting beside Sahil.
"Nervous?"
"A little."
Arjun smiled.
"Good."
He leaned closer.
"Today’s chase will tell us more about you than yesterday’s debut."
Sahil looked at him.
"Why?"
"Anyone can finish when the platform is already built."
Arjun picked up his bat.
"A real finisher..."
"...helps his team reach the finish line."
---
Those words lingered in Sahil’s mind as he fastened his helmet.
Outside, the crowd’s cheers grew louder.
The target of 225 waited on the scoreboard.
Before he could stand, the familiar blue glow appeared once more.
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NEW MISSION
Master of the Chase
Complete 3 Successful State Run Chases while remaining a positive contributor to the victory.
Progress: 0 / 3
Reward: Hidden
"Great finishers don’t just score runs.
They carry their team home."
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The System faded.
Sahil stared at the empty space where it had been.
Three successful chases.
Not one.
Not two.
The System wasn’t asking for a single great innings.
It wanted consistency.
He slowly stood, picked up his bat, and walked toward the tunnel.
Outside, Arjun and Aryan were already making their way to the middle.
The chase was about to begin.
And somewhere in the next forty overs...
Sahil would take his first step toward becoming more than just a promising debutant.
He would begin proving that he could finish matches.
The afternoon sun hung directly above the stadium as Aryan and Arjun walked through the tunnel.
The scoreboard glowed brightly.
Target: 225
The crowd clapped rhythmically as the opening bowler marked his run-up.
Inside the dressing room, the atmosphere was calm.
Nobody shouted instructions.
Nobody predicted scores.
Coach Rana believed a chase wasn’t won with speeches.
It was won one decision at a time.
---
The start couldn’t have been worse.
Aryan nicked the fifth ball of the innings.
A healthy edge flew straight to second slip.
Out.
Himachal – 2/1
The stadium suddenly fell silent.
Sahil instinctively glanced toward Coach Rana.
The coach didn’t react.
He simply folded his arms.
One wicket meant nothing.
Panic did.
---
Arjun rebuilt patiently with Rohan.
Singles replaced boundaries.
The bowlers maintained excellent discipline.
After ten overs...
Himachal – 46/1
Required Rate: 4.97
Exactly where Coach Rana wanted the chase.
---
The partnership crossed fifty before disaster struck again.
Rohan misjudged a slower ball.
Caught at mid-off.
78/2
Three overs later...
Another breakthrough.
A sharp in-swinger trapped the new batter LBW.
96/3
The opposition celebrated loudly.
Momentum had shifted.
---
Arjun removed his helmet and took a long drink.
He looked toward the dressing room balcony.
Coach Rana raised only one finger.
Wait.
No unnecessary risks.
---
The captain responded beautifully.
Cover drives.
Quick singles.
Calm communication.
By the twenty-fifth over...
The scoreboard reached:
132/3
Still...
Ninety-three runs remained.
---
Then came the turning point.
Trying to accelerate, Arjun attempted to loft the spinner over long-on.
The timing wasn’t perfect.
The ball climbed high.
Long-on settled underneath it.
The catch was never in doubt.
Silence.
The Himachal captain departed for a composed 67 (74).
The scoreboard now read:
148/4
---
Coach Rana turned calmly.
"Sahil."
Already padded.
Already wearing his gloves.
He stood immediately.
"Yes, sir."
Coach Kapoor smiled.
"Same process."
Coach Rana added only three words.
"Finish it."
---
Sahil jogged toward the middle.
The applause wasn’t as loud as his debut.
Today...
People expected him.
The expectation felt heavier.
---
As he reached the crease, the opposition captain walked over.
"So..."
"The newspapers were right."
"The finisher."
Sahil smiled politely.
"We’ll find out."
---
He took guard.
The required equation flashed on the giant screen.
77 Runs Needed
84 Balls Remaining
No panic.
No rush.
---
The first over passed quietly.
Three singles.
One defensive shot.
One leave.
The wicketkeeper laughed.
"Where’s yesterday’s fireworks?"
Sahil adjusted his gloves.
"They’ll come if they’re needed."
---
At the other end, Danish attacked naturally.
Two crisp boundaries reduced the pressure.
The partnership began growing.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Forty runs.
Every over brought Himachal closer.
---
The opposition sensed the danger.
Their quickest bowler returned.
Field spread.
Deep square.
Long-on.
Long-off.
Everyone waited for Sahil to attack.
Instead...
He refused.
Single.
Single.
Dot.
Single.
The bowler grew frustrated.
"So scared now?"
Sahil looked up calmly.
"I’m chasing."
"Not racing."
---
Those words reached Coach Kapoor on the balcony.
He smiled.
The lesson had finally become instinct.
---
With six overs remaining...
The equation became manageable.
31 Needed from 36 Balls
Coach Rana remained expressionless.
But inside...
He approved.
Exactly how a chase should unfold.
---
The spinner floated one slightly too full.
Sahil stepped forward.
The bat met the ball perfectly.
CRACK!
The cover drive pierced the infield effortlessly.
Four.
The crowd erupted.
Not because of the boundary.
Because of the timing.
For a brief second...
The world around Sahil slowed.
The seam.
The middle of the bat.
The vibration.
Everything felt...
Perfect.
A familiar blue flash appeared before disappearing instantly.
---
Two overs later...
The fast bowler overpitched again.
Sahil leaned into another straight drive.
Again...
The ball met the exact centre of the bat.
No vibration.
No resistance.
Pure connection.
The bowler didn’t even move.
The ball raced straight to the boundary.
Coach Kapoor’s eyes widened.
He had never heard a sweeter sound off the bat.
---
Only thirteen runs remained.
Danish finished the chase in style, smashing a slower ball over midwicket for six.
The winning runs sparked loud celebrations.
Himachal Pradesh won by 6 wickets.
---
Danish punched Sahil’s shoulder.
"Told you we’d finish it."
Sahil smiled.
"You hit the winning shot."
"You got us there."
---
As the players shook hands, the familiar blue screen appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
MISSION UPDATE
Master of the Chase
Successful State Chases:
1 / 3
✔ First Chase Completed
Reward: In Progress
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
PERFECT TIMING PATHWAY
Progress: 1000 / 1000
PATHWAY COMPLETE
Calculating Rewards...
...
...
Reward Synchronization Pending
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The blue screen shimmered for a few moments before fading.
No reward appeared.
Not yet.
Sahil frowned slightly.
The pathway had finally reached 1000/1000.
Yet the System was still processing.
Coach Kapoor walked beside him as they entered the dressing room.
"What are you smiling about?"
Sahil looked down at his bat.
"I think..."
"...something big is about to happen."
Far above the stadium, dark clouds slowly drifted across the mountains.
For the first time since receiving the System...
One of its oldest pathways had been completed.
Whatever came next...
Would change Sahil’s cricket forever.