Cricket System:Second Chance For Raj
Chapter 56: The First Selection Board

Chapter 56: The First Selection Board

The summons came in without a sound, displayed on Raj’s system like a simple reminder.

You are requested at National Selection Committee – Board Room C, 11:00 AM.Note: Confidential evaluation in progress. Do not disclose attendance to peers.

There were no congratulations, no flashing notifications, no celebration queues.But Raj knew what it meant.

He packed his gear case slowly, even though he wouldn’t need it. He adjusted the thread tension on his RajCraft glove, knowing they wouldn’t ask him to wear it. Then he stood in front of the dormitory mirror, not to admire himself but to ensure his expression was steady.

There was no room for doubt when stepping into the rooms that decided futures.

Board Room C wasn’t part of the regular evaluation blocks. It was located behind a corridor flanked by silent walls and frosted glass. No noise leaked in. No support staff waited outside. When Raj arrived, only a single assistant acknowledged him with a nod and unlocked the door.

Inside, a long table stretched across the center. Half the seats were filled with coaches, federation reps, sponsor liaisons, and two unfamiliar observers who didn’t introduce themselves. No one smiled. No one gestured for him to sit.

So he stood.

The head of the committee - a man named Director Chandan , adjusted his tablet and spoke without looking up.

"You understand why you’re here, Candidate Raj?"

"I believe so," Raj replied evenly.

"You performed well during the selection trials. Top percentile across metrics. The system logs you as a high-impact player with strong team influence."

Raj waited. He knew there was a "but" coming.

Chandan continued."But that doesn’t automatically guarantee you a place. Or a leadership role. Some believe your methods are... unorthodox. Passive. Lacking visibility."

Across the table, one of the Gravex-aligned board members made a sound — not quite a cough, not quite a laugh. Raj’s eyes flicked toward him once, then back to Chandan.

"I don’t use volume to lead," he said quietly. "I use rhythm. And the field listened."

Another board member — a woman in a dark blue sari with the Athene League seal ,nodded faintly.

"Your data speaks. Highest teammate sync in non-captain roles. No collapse events when you’re on-field. Emotional tempo management: exceptional."

One of the observers tapped his tablet.

"But he’s not media-trained. No interviews. No crowd pull. Can we afford to elevate someone who doesn’t ’perform’ off the pitch?"

Raj finally stepped forward and said: "If you’re selecting for applause, there are better players. If you’re selecting for control, I’ve already passed your trial."

Silence.

Then the system responded.

⟐ SYSTEM PULSE: BOARDROOM SYNC ACTIVE ⟐

▸ Status: Evaluation Triggered

▸ Influence Threads: Spreading – 4 of 7 Panel Members Showing Positive Drift

▸ Resistance Detected: Gravex Influence Attempt – Flagged

▸ Passive Effect: Calm Aura Active

▸ Bonus Trigger: Unshakable Presence – Enabled

▸ Potential Outcome: Pending Unanimous Vote

Director Chandan leaned back, scanning the data.

"One board member has submitted a written concern. It says you refused Gravex sponsorship, and that this may compromise your neutrality."

Raj didn’t flinch.

"I didn’t refuse Gravex. I refused compromise."

The observer with the concern narrowed his eyes. "Your loyalty to Dynamiq is now public. How do we know your decisions won’t be biased?"

Raj stepped closer to the table,"Because I don’t lead for contracts. I lead for cohesion."

The woman in the blue saree spoke again.

"We’ve observed something rare. You shift momentum without instruction. Players mirror you without knowing it. And your emotional thread rate..."

She paused.

"....is the highest we’ve ever seen in a non-captain candidate."

⟐ SYSTEM ALERT: SUPPORT THRESHOLD REACHED ⟐

✔ Majority Alignment Achieved – 5/7 Board Votes Leaning Positive

▸ Risk Factor: Gravex Pushback Predicted

▸ Counterbalance Activated: Flame Rank Integrity Override

▸ Trait Boosted: "The Unnamed Commander" → "Fieldborn Leader"

▸ System Trust: MAX▸ Final Selection Status: Locked (Pending Announcement Timing)

One of the observers, still unconvinced, leaned forward and folded his hands.

"Let’s strip the sentiment. Here’s the problem: we have players who score faster, bowl harder, and dominate interviews. You’re... calm. Quiet. We’ve had quiet players before. They don’t draw crowds. They don’t inspire national headlines."

Raj didn’t react.He just let the words fall and then answered with clarity.

"I’m not trying to be remembered louder. I’m trying to help the team remember who they are under pressure."

That was the difference and it began to settle into the room.

The selector beside Chandan whispered something into his ear while checking a digital graph. Chandan nodded slightly, then turned back to Raj.

"Tell me this: if you’re in a final, defending a low score, and three wickets fall under seven balls... what’s your move?"

"I don’t move immediately," Raj replied.

"I listen."

"To the crowd?"

"No. To the team."

Chandan raised an eyebrow.

Raj continued, eyes steady.

"Someone always panics first. Their hands shake. Their stares shift. Before you issue any command, you look for the emotional fracture. You patch that before you speak. Then you set the field."

Another selector wrote something on his tablet.

"Understands psychological triage. Rare."

⟐ SYSTEM INTERFACE: BOARDROOM SCORING LIVE ⟐

▸ Response Registered: "Listen Before Command"

▸ Trait Resonance Detected: Leadership Precision

▸ Influence Shift: 6 of 7 Voting Members Leaning Positive

▸ Bonus Trait Pathway Unlocked: Mental Stabilizer (Pending Activation)

Just then, the room’s central panel flashed. A delayed data packet appeared , flagged by one of the media officers on the Gravex channel.

It was a shadow report: an anonymous note claiming Raj had received unfair mentor access from ex-national coach Kaale, and that he’d been pre-positioned for selection through quiet bias.

Raj didn’t react.

Chandan read it silently.

Then dismissed it with a hand swipe.

"Mentorship is not illegal. And Kaale recommended seven other players during his tenure."

He looked up."But we do need to test bias."

The Gravex-aligned selector smiled faintly,"Put him in a squad with all sponsored players. Full media load. No control. No protection."

The others paused.

Chandan turned to Raj."Would you accept a challenge match under stacked disadvantage?"

Raj didn’t even blink."Give me the squad that needs the most stitching."

⟐ SYSTEM TRIGGER: VOLUNTARY BURDEN ACCEPTED ⟐

✔ Side-Match Activated: Disadvantage Trial – Squad G (Untrained Mix)

▸ Scenario: 5 Days – Rotation Against Top Tier Trialists

▸ Bonus Criteria: No Support Coaches Assigned

▸ Impact: Internal Politics Will Be Observed

▸ Reward: Fast-Track Captaincy Inclusion (If Passed)

From the back of the room, a selector who hadn’t spoken until now finally raised his voice.

"Sir," he said to Chandan, "if he agrees to Squad G and doesn’t flinch, we should skip the vote."

Chandan glanced at the system feed.

"Agreed."

He looked at Raj.

"You’ve answered enough. You’ll receive a system notification tonight."

Raj nodded.

Then, just before leaving, he paused.

One hand on the table.

"Next time your players panic and look for instructions... ask who they looked toward first."

He turned and walked out.

And behind him, the system spoke without being heard aloud.

That’s who a captain is.

The hallway outside Board Room C felt longer on the way out than it had on the way in. Raj didn’t walk slower. But something in the way the lights flickered overhead and the silence trailed behind him felt final, like he’d just stitched a new page in a book others would read later—without knowing how hard it was to turn.

He didn’t check the system yet.

He already knew the outcome wouldn’t be instant.

The trial they proposed—Squad G—wouldn’t just test his skill. It would test his ability to make something cohere from what others discarded. Squad G had a reputation. Players who didn’t get along. Multiple brands. Conflict of roles. Imbalanced skills. No coaching guidance.

The perfect storm.

Raj wasn’t afraid.But he knew exactly how difficult it would be.

The message came at 8:01 PM that evening.

System Notification: You Have Been Assigned to Squad G (Rotation Phase)

Opponent Groups: Tier 1-A, Tier 1-B, Tier 2-A

Match Duration: 5 Days

Resources: Minimal

Coaching: Deferred

Conditions: Rotating Turf, Media Access Active

Squad Classification: Rejected Core

Flame Commander Evaluation Will Occur Silently During PhaseEmotional Threads Being Monitored

Note: Do Not Inform Squad You Are Under Review

Raj exhaled through his nose and tapped once to accept.

⟐ SYSTEM UPDATE: PHASE TWO CAPTAINCY TRIAL INITIATED ⟐

▸ Trial Name: The Broken Stitch Test

▸ Role: Unofficial – Watchpoint Anchor

▸ Squad Status: 6 Players With Known Conflicts

▸ Communication Score: Low

▸ Emotional Collapse Probability: High▸ Your Goal: Make Them Move As One

The next morning, Squad G reported for the match warm-up. The assistant who escorted them to the secondary field carried no tactical board, no instruction, and offered only a brief, cold smile before walking away.

"Team G, best of luck. You’ll be rotated against Group 1-A in thirty minutes. If you’re still functioning after that, continue."

One player, a tall middle-order hitter named Saahil, grinned sarcastically.

"Still functioning? Damn. That’s motivating."

Another muttered, "Figures they’d dump us out here. Watch, we’ll get broken up after two days."

Raj watched and listened.

They hadn’t even started, but the stitching lines were already torn.He didn’t step in yet. He let them jog warm-up laps, fumble with cones, complain about poor turf. Some players wore mismatched jerseys. Two batsmen were from rival training schools and hadn’t spoken in over a year.

A perfect mess.Exactly what he’d been given.

When the match began, Squad G was sent to bat first.

No batting order was set.The players looked at each other.

"What’s the lineup?" someone finally asked.

"Don’t look at me," Saahil shrugged. "Not like I’m running this circus."

Raj stepped up quietly, without announcement.

"You open," he said, pointing to the most defensive batsman.

"You follow," he said to the risk-hitter.

"And you," nodding to the angry middle-order boy, "pad up at 4. You’re going to be needed when the collapse hits."

The room fell quiet.

One player blinked. "Who said you’re calling this?"

Raj didn’t raise his voice.But he didn’t look away either.

"No one."

He just walked to the bench and sat down.They followed.

The match began rough. The opener survived narrowly twice. The second batsman got out on the fifth ball. Saahil came in at 3 and blasted a six—then got caught next ball trying to prove something.

Collapse began.

Raj stood.Walked past the coachless tent.

Said only one sentence to the player going in next:

"Don’t play their field. Play your angles."

It worked.The over stabilized.

And Raj watched—not the ball, but the shoulders of his teammates.

They were starting to lift,not because they were winning, but because someone believed they could.

By the twelfth over, Squad G had stitched together a fragile 97/5. It wasn’t impressive on paper, but on the field,it was survival. No big hits, no highlight reels, just controlled bleeding.

When the sixth wicket fell, Raj walked in. He didn’t carry confidence like armor. He wore it like thread—subtle, unnoticed until it pulled everything tight.

The bowlers sledged.The opposition keeper mocked. "Here comes the calm. Bet he won’t last six balls."

Raj didn’t respond.

He tapped his bat once.

Then faced the storm.

First ball — full. He defended it back softly, eyes fixed on the bowler’s follow-through.

Second — slower. He waited, nudged it for two.

Third — bouncer. He swayed.

And on the fourth, he stepped forward and drove—not hard, just enough to show the field that balance wasn’t gone.

His partner took cue.

Singles. A misfield. A two-run flick.

By the end of the innings, Squad G stood at 131 all out. Barely functional. Barely competitive.

But standing.

⟐ SYSTEM CAPTAINCY LOG – BROKEN STITCH PHASE 1 ⟐

✔ Collapse Resistance: Passed

✔ Morale Stabilization: Detected

▸ Teammate Disruption Rate: Dropped from 42% → 18%

▸ Trait Effect: Leader in Chaos – Activated

▸ Influence Spread: Expanding (4 of 6 teammates showing sync shift)

▸ Internal Trust Nodes: Forming

▸ Squad Classification: Threading Initiated

In the field, Raj didn’t shout placements. He adjusted them with calm hand gestures. He walked over, twice, when a bowler fumbled under pressure. Didn’t advise. Just stood beside him for ten seconds in silence.

The overs passed.The tension dropped.

By the twelfth over of the defense, Squad G had picked up four wickets. Unexpected. Unlikely. Yet real.

From the selector’s box, the same observer who doubted Raj earlier murmured, "They don’t even know he’s leading them."

The response came from a coach beside him.

"They don’t need to. That’s why it’s working."

After the match, no speeches were made.No one praised anyone.But as the squad walked back to the dormitory together, one player nudged Raj on the shoulder.

"You’re good at this," he said.

"At what?"

"At keeping the damn field stitched."

Raj didn’t answer.He didn’t need to.Because for the first time since the squad was formed, they walked back without looking like strangers.

They looked like a team.

That night, the system pulsed again.

⟐ SYSTEM MILESTONE UNLOCKED ⟐

✔ Phase Completed: The Broken Stitch Test – Day 1

▸ Status: Squad G Still Operational

▸ System Observation: Leadership Instincts Verified

▸ Emotional Threads: 5 of 6 Teammates Now Pulled Toward Command Sync

▸ New Trait Acquired: The Threadholder

▸ Effect: You retain emotional balance across fractured squads

▸ Bonus Passive: Crisis Guidance (Unlocked When Collapse Level ≥ 50%)

▸ Selection Council Feedback: "Raj leads as if he’s been doing it for years."

And inside the selector’s private report:

*"Still no formal role.No public recognition.Yet he walks like a captain.

Recommend promotion to official vice-captaincy within the national draft."*

TO BE CONTINUED...........