Cricket System:Second Chance For Raj
Chapter 60: The Emblem Ceremony

Chapter 60: The Emblem Ceremony

They called it a "debrief session."No one expected a ceremony.

The players from Evaluation Group Z were told to report to the East Wing assembly hall at 8:30 AM. No specific dress code, no media alert, no press. Just a clipboard announcement: "Final reflection. Mandatory presence."

Raj arrived early. Sat in the corner seat. Quiet as ever.The others walked in louder.

Player 06 had a fresh band around his wrist with a stitched flame symbol.

Player 09 joked about snacks.Someone asked if this was just feedback and logistics.

No one suspected what was really coming.

Until the lights dimmed and a narrow spotlight hit the center stage.

A single table stood there.

On it there are twelve emblem boxes.

Velvet.

Black.

With the National Cricket Board seal etched in silver.

A man in a plain coat walked out and cleared his throat.

"Evaluation Group Z... congratulations. You didn’t just complete a trial. You survived the trial."

Murmurs rippled.

The man continued. "Some of you came here with doubt. Others with distraction. But every one of you walked out of that field stitched to someone else."

His hand hovered over the emblems.

"Today, we honor not the scores you made, but the threads you created."

He opened the first box.

"Player 01: Field Precision Commendation."

Applause.

"Player 03: Emotional Resilience Marker."

More claps.Then came a pause.

At the ninth box, he lifted the emblem slowly.

"This one...." he said, voice softer now. "Isn’t for noise. Or power. Or even performance."

"It’s for the one who led with no title.

The one who stitched trust into a broken squad.The one who was never meant to be known—yet became unforgettable."

A deeper silence gripped the room.

"Player 08."

Heads turned.All eyes locked on Raj.

Some with confusion.Others with realization dawning slow.

And when Raj stood,

Every player from that match stood too.

Not in confusion anymore.But in respect.

—

The man handed him the final emblem box.

Raj opened it.Inside was not a badge.

It was a stitched patch.Black thread.

Outlined with flame.

No shine.

No glitter.

Just fire ,woven into silence.

⟐ SYSTEM UPDATE: EMBLEM CEREMONY COMPLETE ⟐

✔ Title Bestowed: Silent Flame Commander

- Squad Recognition: Full

- Emotional Aura: Permanently Activated Within Team Radius

- Legacy Stitching Score: 100%

-New Passive: Anchor Flame – Doubles Morale Recovery When Underestimated

And beneath the patch, a handwritten card:

"This isn’t for your chest.It’s for your presence.

Stitch it where they’ll feel it ,Not where they’ll just see it."

Raj didn’t give a speech.He didn’t walk to the stage like he owned it.

He simply accepted the patch, held it in his palm for a moment, and stepped back into the crowd. The other players moved slightly not away, but around him, unconsciously forming a circle.

They didn’t clap again.They didn’t need to.

The silence said everything.

Later that day, the squad gathered for their actual debrief. A projector clicked on, showing match footage,moments they remembered, moments they missed. But something strange happened. In every scene where the team had nearly collapsed, Raj appeared ,not front and center, but close.

Stepping up without stepping forward.

Correcting without correcting.Leading without claiming.

Player 06 finally broke the silence. "He was everywhere. Stitching us the whole time."

Player 04, who had been the most skeptical, muttered, "How did we not see it?"

Player 09 smiled faintly. "We didn’t need to. We felt it."

Back in the system interface, a new status opened.

⟐ SYSTEM RECOGNITION MODULE UNLOCKED ⟐

▸ Trait Confirmed: Influence Without Recognition

▸ Squad Tag Awarded: Anchor Presence

▸ Emotional Tether Level: Maximum

▸ Media Profile Sync: Disabled (by choice)

▸ Internal System Ranking: #1 Silent Captaincy Cadet (All-Time)

▸ Next Path: National Mentorship League Invitation Pending

And in the National Board’s operations room, senior selectors discussed the moment.

"We expected him to fail under anonymity," one admitted.

"We built the test so that no player could lead without being given the right."

Another added, "And he showed us that some don’t need the right. They create the space for leadership."

The head coach, watching the footage again in slow motion, simply nodded.

"Captain material."

That evening, Raj stitched the emblem,not onto his jersey, but into his glove pouch.

Every time he opened it now, he’d see the flame.Not as a label.But as a memory.

Spandana found him sitting alone near the outer practice nets.

"You stitched them, didn’t you?" she said, arms crossed but smiling.

Raj raised a brow. "They stitched themselves."

She sat beside him. "You just happened to be the needle."

He didn’t deny it.Didn’t own it either.

Because in the end, it wasn’t about what he said.

It was what remained after the noise faded.

As night fell, the Silent Champions Initiative sent a sealed packet to Raj’s dorm. No delivery message. No escort. Just a thin, matte-black envelope resting on his pillow when he returned from nets.

Inside was a single slip.

"You’re invited.

National Mentorship League.

Location: Undisclosed.

Duration: 4 weeks.

Selection Pool: 12.

Format: Captains without crowns.

You won’t be given the role.You’ll have to earn it again.This time, among others just like you."

At the bottom, a final line glowed faintly under lamplight:

"Legends aren’t chosen by stats. They’re chosen by silence."

Raj folded the note and tucked it into the glove pouch right beside the stitched flame.

Then, he opened his system panel.

⟐ SYSTEM ALERT: NEW ARC INITIATED ⟐

▸ Title: National Mentorship League (NML) – Path of Twelve

▸ Category: Captain-Class Internal Tournament

▸ Status: Sealed Entry – Silent Champions

▸ Players Selected: 12

▸ Known Rivals: Unlisted

▸ Format: Rotating Leadership Trials

▸ Visibility: Internal Observers + National Mentors

▸ Your Current Rank: Invisible

▸ Goal: Rise Without Title

▸ Legacy Marker: Active

Meanwhile, social media whispered theories.

Player 08 memes circulated under hashtags like

#PatchOverPost, #StitchWinsGames, and #FlameNoFame. But the real discussion happened off the grid — among scouts, strategists, and legacy designers.

Because if a player could rise without flash, without headlines,He might be the very prototype for the team India didn’t know it needed.

At midnight, Raj walked to the training dome one last time before departure. Not to train. Just to sit.

He placed his gloves on the pitch.One in each hand.Then bowed slightly,not to the field, but to what it gave him.

Not victories.But silence.

Not fame.But fire.

And somewhere in the system, a final message stitched itself softly:

⟐ SYSTEM STITCH COMPLETE ⟐

▸ Chapter Milestone Achieved: The Emblem Ceremony

▸ Path Status: Ascending

▸ Emotional Memory Stored: Permanent

▸ Field Recognition: Internal Flame – Visible Only to the Worthy

▸ Next Chapter Unlocked: League of Twelve – Where Captains Are Made

The next morning came without fanfare.

No formal farewell.No boarding call.

Just a silent black vehicle waiting outside the dorm gate, engine running, windows tinted.

Raj stepped out at 6:00 AM sharp.

Glove pouch over shoulder. No luggage. No followers.

Just him and the fire stitched inside.

As he opened the door, a voice from the driver’s seat asked, "Ready to go where captains are born?"

Raj didn’t answer.He simply nodded, and the car moved.

Behind him, the campus gates shrank into the distance. No one waved. No one cheered. But from a third-floor window, Player 06 stood, watching. A flame-patched wristband visible under his sleeve.

The quiet legacy had begun to echo.

And it would only grow louder in silence.

Inside the moving car, Raj’s system pulsed gently.

⟐ SYSTEM SYNC: NATIONAL MENTORSHIP LEAGUE ⟐

▸ Path Activated: League of Twelve

▸ Legacy Trial: Initiation Pending

▸ Entry Name: Raj (Unranked)

▸ Team Placement: Rotating

▸ Match Conditions: Pressure-Based Captaincy Rotation

▸ Bonus Rule: One True Captain Will Rise

▸ System Condition: No Forced Trait Activations

▸ All Progression Must Be Earned In-Field

The vehicle entered a forest-lined road that curved toward the hills.

A hidden facility sat at the end - no signboards, just a high gate marked with a single icon: a flame stitched over a circle.

The same mark on his patch.

This was where captains were tested among captains.

Elsewhere, in a control room built deep within the facility, a mentor reviewed a dossier.

Raj’s profile.Beside it, a simple quote had been scribbled in pen by a silent observer:

"When they speak of leaders, they will name the loud.

But when they recall survival,they will remember the quiet."

—

Raj stepped into the League’s entrance hall.

Twelve doors lined the curve of the training ring.Twelve captains-to-be.Twelve styles.

Twelve legacies in the making.He walked to the last door. The only one left unmarked.

Pressed his palm to the lock.The system flared softly.

⟐ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⟐

▸ Emblem Flame Recognized

▸ Role: Invisible Thread

▸ Trial Countdown: 3 Days

▸ Objective: Stitch A Team Without Introduction

▸ Special Condition: No One Must Know Who You Are — Until They Choose You

Raj entered without hesitation.Because silence had carried him this far and now, it would carry him into legend.

Not with a shout.But with every stitched step forward.

To be continued.....

Thanks for supporting me.It’s the first month for Raj to win mgs benefits, so please help him to earn him and the fire in him will blaze more.