Cricket System:Second Chance For Raj
Chapter 57: The Squad Announcement

Chapter 57: The Squad Announcement

Squad selection day had always been noisy.

Players watched livestreams from their dorms, cafeterias, and campus grounds. Coaches huddled silently in offices. Family members texted prayers, encouragements, and pressure. Social media buzzed with predictions, leaks, and mock drafts.

But Raj sat alone, not watching the screen.

He sat at his desk, polishing the edge of his RajCraft glove,not for use, but for respect. His squad had performed. His traits had triggered. His presence had led silently through storms.

And yet, a part of him didn’t expect celebration.Real legacy never arrived wrapped in noise.

The broadcast began exactly at 10:00 AM. No countdown. No music. Just the National Selection Board emblem and a plain scroll of text that started to appear line by line.

INDIA NATIONAL CRICKET DEVELOPMENT SQUAD – FINAL 22

A host narrated names aloud.

Top-order hitters. Young wicket-keepers. Pace talents from Tier 1-A. Players from brands, from media circuits, from long-standing sponsor funnels.

Room by room, players shouted and clapped.

Raj’s room remained silent.His name hadn’t appeared yet and the list was halfway through.

At 14 names, Raj remained unseen.

At 17, tension bled into the dorms. Someone outside muttered, "He’s not in?"

Another whispered, "No way. That has to be a mistake."

The system in Raj’s room remained still.

Until finally,The screen flashed.

SCROLLING EXTENSION: CLASSIFIED POSITIONS LOADING...

The scroll paused.Then revealed a secondary list.

⟐ SYSTEM UPDATE: HIDDEN RANKING DISPLAYED ⟐

▸ Role: Vice-Captain (Developmental Tier)

▸ Position: Flame Commander Candidate

▸ Designation: Team India – Class B

▸ Tactical Responsibility: Match Anchor + Emotional Stabilizer

▸ Visibility: LIMITED (Media Announcement Delayed)

▸ Internal Rank: #4 Overall Impact

▸ Public List Position: 20/22

Name #20 appeared:

Pavan Raj – Tactical Specialist, Vice-Captain Candidate

The room exploded.

Outside, someone shouted, "He’s in! He’s in!"

Another said, "Why the hell was he placed so low? He was carrying us!"

But Raj didn’t flinch.He didn’t even smile.

He just placed the glove back in the case, sealed the lid, and stood.Because the truth wasn’t in the ranking.It was in the title stitched quietly beneath it.

Vice-Captain Candidate

Not fame.But flame.

Elsewhere in the selection office, arguments had already begun.

"He’s number 20 on the list?" one senior coach barked.

Chandan, seated calmly with a tablet, replied, "Publicly. That was a system order. The media needed something dramatic."

"So you did select him early?"

"We selected him," Chandan said, "the moment Squad G survived."

In the system control room, Raj’s tracker glowed a new color.

Color: Threaded Red – Command Seed Active

And under the interface:

You lead quietly.

You rise when others collapse.

And now... the nation is about to see what leadership stitched in silence can become.

Raj’s name finally trending didn’t change his pace.

While others crowded the common areas, showing screenshots and celebrating with phone calls, Raj returned to the empty training dome. He didn’t carry a bat. Just a journal and a pair of basic hand weights. Every repetition, every footstep, every page scribble was part of the rhythm that had gotten him here and the rhythm that would carry him forward.

Fame hadn’t won his trial. Silence had and silence still needed to be maintained.

Meanwhile, the system had begun processing the fallout of his delayed announcement.

⟐ SYSTEM STATUS: NATIONAL EXPOSURE EVENT INITIATED ⟐

▸ Visibility Surge: +320% (Last 1hr)

▸ Media Reaction: "Why Was Raj Hidden?"

▸ Gravex Interference Traces: None – Blocked

▸ Public Support Rating: Climbing

▸ Fan Trust Layer: Opened

▸ Emotional Flame Ranking: Tied #2 (All-Time Dev Tier)

Inside the national board’s digital suite, a marketing director flipped through engagement reports.

"This wasn’t supposed to happen," he muttered.

The PR manager beside him shook her head. "That scroll delay did more than expected. Raj’s name drop caused a 14% spike in real-time viewer hold."

"His silence created suspense."

"His story is now their mystery."

Another voice added from across the table: "And Gravex lost their final card."

Everyone paused at that.They knew what that meant.

Raj’s silence wasn’t just working anymore.

It was winning.

Back in his dorm, Raj opened his system interface for the first time that day. There were no congratulations. No fanfare. Just a clean notification that blinked like a heartbeat.

⟐ SYSTEM PROMOTION CONFIRMED ⟐

Position Granted: Vice-Captain Candidate – Team India Dev

▸ Tactical Role: Flame Anchor

▸ Emotional Layer: Activated

▸ Trait Upgrade: Threadholder → Chain Weaver

 Effect: You link disconnected teammates through passive sync

▸ Special Trial Initiated: Pre-Captaincy Shadow Route

Duration: 30 Days

Visibility: Hidden From Public

▸ System Notes: Your next 3 matches will determine final elevation. Lead silently, or fall back into rotation.

Raj blinked once.

Not at the pressure ,but at the opportunity.

He wasn’t here to skip ranks. He was here to earn each thread.

The system pulsed again.

⟐ NEW TRAIT UNLOCKED: CHAIN WEAVER ⟐

Effect: Your presence actively bonds teammates who distrust each other.

Sync Delay Between Rivals: Reduced by 60%

Morale Recovery Bonus: Team cohesion loss fades twice as fast under your call

Field Activation Range: 14m

Anchor Bonus: If 3 or more sync, you gain Command Surge

Trait Class: Strategic Leadership

Outside his room, someone knocked twice.

Spandana.

She didn’t say anything when he opened the door.She just handed him a bottle of water and showed her phone.

His name was trending #1.

#SilentThread

#WhoIsRaj

#CaptainMaterial

Raj looked at the screen for half a second.

Then gave it back.

Spandana smiled faintly.

"Even the hashtags are quiet."

Raj looked past her, out the hallway window, toward the empty field.

"It’s not about going viral," he said.

"It’s about becoming inevitable."

The next morning, the newly selected players were called into the national prep dome for their first group briefing. It wasn’t a press event. It wasn’t even a full team session. Just a baseline introduction to one another—quiet, clinical, camera-free.

Raj entered through the side tunnel and didn’t announce himself. He took the last seat on the left, behind two flamboyant openers and beside a calm, observant wicket-keeper from Mumbai named Vihan. Most of the others were loud. High-fiving, exchanging social handles, talking brand deals. Raj said nothing. But Vihan leaned in.

"You’re the glove guy, right?"

Raj nodded once.

"They say you stitched a broken squad together in one match."

"They say a lot of things," Raj replied. "Most of them late."

Vihan smirked. "Fair."

Moments later, a digital panel slid down from the ceiling, displaying the full squad list and match rotation calendar. It also revealed the internal leadership structure.

That’s when the mood shifted.

Everyone expected the captain to be someone like Shantanu Mishra—a golden boy with a strong media presence and three sponsors already backing him.

Instead, the captain field read:

Captain – To Be Decided (Pending Internal Evaluation)

Vice-Captain Candidate: Pavan Raj

The room paused.

Then the whispers began.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Raj? Wasn’t he in Squad G?"

"He’s vice already?"

Someone muttered under their breath, "How does a guy with no mic time get that post?"

Raj didn’t move.Didn’t look around.

But Vihan chuckled softly.

"They really don’t get it, huh?"

Raj kept his eyes on the screen. "They will."

—

That afternoon, as the squad prepared for orientation drills, Raj was pulled aside by a coordinator from the board. She handed him a sealed packet. Inside were three match schedules—each marked with red thread indicators.

These were his real trials.The rest were for optics.

⟐ SYSTEM ALERT: HIDDEN TRIAL INITIATED ⟐

✔ Trial Name: Command in Chaos

▸ Format: 3 Undeclared Captaincy Matches

▸ Opposition: Tier-1 Internal Squads

▸ Judges: Silent Evaluators

▸ Traits Under Review:

– Chain Weaver

– Silent Relay

– Command Surge (Pending Activation)

▸ Requirement: Bond Rivals, Stabilize Collapse, Win Trust

Inside the match logs were bios of teammates he’d be paired with.

One was Saahil,the short-tempered batsman from Squad G.

Another was Shantanu Mishra himself.

And the third? A former junior team vice-captain known for undermining authority when he didn’t wear the armband.

Raj closed the folder.

Smiled faintly.

He wasn’t being tested with matches.He was being tested with people.

And people stitched slower than runs.

But once stitched... they held longer.

That night, a quiet message appeared in his system inbox.

"They don’t want you to lead loudly.

They want to know if your silence can still hold when the storm screams.Let’s find out."

It was unsigned.But Raj didn’t need a name.

He already knew the match wasn’t just about selection anymore.It was about transformation.

The first match of Raj’s hidden captaincy trial wasn’t played under lights or fanfare. It was arranged in one of the low-visibility test domes — built more for evaluation than spectacle. The scoreboard was analog. The outfield uneven. There were no stands. No commentary.

Just the field and what the system needed to observe.

Raj’s assigned squad arrived without fan enthusiasm. Shantanu, who had expected to be named captain publicly, entered with visible annoyance. His jog was lazy. His wrist guard matched his sponsor’s logo. He hadn’t even spoken to half the team by warm-up.

Raj remained quiet.

He didn’t correct anyone. Didn’t claim responsibility. But when no one stepped forward to give the pre-match huddle, and eyes started to glance sideways for direction ,he stepped into the circle.

"We start with low movement. Two overs of silence. Watch for collapse cues. Build from rhythm. Win from there."

He didn’t ask for agreement.He simply broke the huddle and walked to the rope.

The rest followed.

Even Shantanu.

The match was close. Uncomfortably so.

Raj didn’t bat first. He slotted himself at number five, letting the top four play naturally. It worked for eight overs. Then, wickets tumbled.

At 63/3, he walked in.

Not as the savior.

As the thread.

He didn’t hit hard. He didn’t chase gaps. He rotated. Absorbed pressure. Whispered two fielding cues between overs to the non-striker that weren’t even about batting.

And that calmed them.

The team rallied.

One of the aggressive openers adapted his pace. The misfield-prone fielder at square began to reposition on his own without instruction.

By the end of the innings, Raj had scored 28 off 35.Not flashy.

But the system knew what had just happened.

⟐ SYSTEM CAPTAINCY TRIAL LOG – MATCH 1 COMPLETE ⟐

Role: Emotional Anchor

▸ Team Collapse: Prevented

▸ Teammate Sync Level: 4 of 5

▸ Trust Growth Detected: Shantanu (Initial Resistance → Passive Compliance)

▸ Trait Activated: Command Surge

▸ Effect: First Hidden Trial Passed

During fielding, Raj called two manual rotations without being prompted.

Not as commands.

As simple suggestions.

The keeper obeyed first.Then the spinner adjusted his length mid-over.

When the opposition’s biggest hitter walked in, Raj didn’t change the field.

He changed his own position.

From short midwicket to backward point.The ball found him second delivery.

Diving catch.

Silence.

Then the team exploded.

But Raj didn’t celebrate.He walked back to position and the system pulsed once more.

⟐ SYSTEM INTERFACE: SILENT COMMANDER PATH CONFIRMED ⟐

First of Three Matches Logged

▸ Emotional Pull Score: High

▸ Player Resistance Overcome: 2

▸ Media Trigger: None (Internal Only)

▸ Council Reaction: Positive

▸ New Title Option Unlocked: The Quiet General

That evening, as the sky dimmed and most players reviewed footage on their tablets, Raj sat in the far corner of the recovery wing, legs folded, eyes shut, replaying only one thing.

Not the catch.

Not the score.

The moment when the team circled naturally around him after the final wicket ,no huddle called, no clap demanded.

They had followed without knowing why.That was enough.

In his system inbox, one final note appeared.

"2 more matches.

No spotlight.

No title.

Just moments.

Stitch them right, and the crown you never asked for will arrive."

TO BE CONTINUED.....