The waiting stretched longer than the drills.
Boys sat in loose clusters near the nets, some lying back on their kits, others pacing as if movement might change the outcome. Conversations rose and fell, cut short whenever someone glanced toward the pavilion.
Rudra stayed where he was.
Stillness cost less energy.
The Board
Joseph Fernandez walked out first.
Behind him, Anil Kulkarni and Raghavendra Shetty followed, carrying a single sheet of paper.
A murmur spread.
They pinned the paper to the notice board near the pavilion.
No speech.
No buildup.
Just a list.
The Crowd Moves
Everyone stood at once.
Parents leaned forward. Boys pushed through, calling out names, counting rows, tracing fingers down the page.
Some cheers broke out.
Some voices fell silent.
Rudra didn't rush.
He walked when the path cleared.
The List
Bangalore District U-14 Probables — Phase 1
Varun Khanna — FTS Sports School
Rahul Iyer — St. Merry's High School
Kunal Mehta — DPS South Bangalore
Arjun Malhotra — NITK English Medium School
Rudra Rao — NITK English Medium School
Aakash Verma — JNV
Sameer Qureshi — DPS South Bangalore
Nikhil Rao — SAM Public School
Arvind Patil — BGS International
Suresh Naik — VVS Academy
Rudra read his name once.
Then stepped back.
No rush of heat.
No disbelief.
Just confirmation.
Reactions
Arjun stared at the board, then laughed under his breath. "We made it."
Kunal Mehta clenched his fist once, hard.
Nearby, a boy folded his kit bag slowly and walked away without a word.
Rudra noticed all of it.
Success didn't shout.
Failure didn't need witnesses.
At the Boundary
Saraswati Rao didn't move at first.
Then Rudra walked toward her.
She looked at his face before asking anything.
"You're in," she said—not a question.
He nodded.
She closed her eyes briefly. Just once.
Relief, not celebration.
She touched his shoulder. "Come. You'll be hungry."
Selectors' Words
As the boys gathered their things, Raghavendra Shetty spoke.
"This is not selection," he said evenly. "This is observation. Discipline matters more from here."
Anil Kulkarni added, "Anyone can be removed. Anyone can rise."
No promises.
Good.
System Record (Silent)
That evening, as Rudra washed his kit and hung it carefully, awareness aligned for a brief moment.
Overall EXP: steady increase
Emotional Control: reinforced under evaluation
Focus: stabilized under outcome
No level change.
No reward.
The system had already recorded today hours ago—during warm-ups, during silence, during restraint.
Night
At home, Rudra lay on his bed, muscles heavy but intact.
He wasn't selected yet.
He was allowed to continue.
That was enough.
District cricket wasn't won by making lists.
It was survived by those who treated every ordinary day after this as if they were still being watched.
And Rudra slept knowing—
From now on, they were.
The waiting stretched longer than the drills.
Boys sat in loose clusters near the nets, some lying back on their kits, others pacing as if movement might change the outcome. Conversations rose and fell, cut short whenever someone glanced toward the pavilion.
Rudra stayed where he was.
Stillness cost less energy.
The Board
Joseph Fernandez walked out first.
Behind him, Anil Kulkarni and Raghavendra Shetty followed, carrying a single sheet of paper.
A murmur spread.
They pinned the paper to the notice board near the pavilion.
No speech.
No buildup.
Just a list.
The Crowd Moves
Everyone stood at once.
Parents leaned forward. Boys pushed through, calling out names, counting rows, tracing fingers down the page.
Some cheers broke out.
Some voices fell silent.
Rudra didn't rush.
Reactions
Arjun stared at the board, then laughed under his breath. "We made it."
Kunal Mehta clenched his fist once, hard.
Nearby, a boy folded his kit bag slowly and walked away without a word.
Rudra noticed all of it.
Success didn't shout.
Failure didn't need witnesses.
At the Boundary
Saraswati Rao didn't move at first.
Then Rudra walked toward her.
She looked at his face before asking anything.
"You're in," she said—not a question.
He nodded.
She closed her eyes briefly. Just once.
Relief, not celebration.
She touched his shoulder. "Come. You'll be hungry."
Selectors' Words
As the boys gathered their things, Raghavendra Shetty spoke.
"This is not selection," he said evenly. "This is observation. Discipline matters more from here."
Anil Kulkarni added, "Anyone can be removed. Anyone can rise."
No promises.
Good.
System Record (Silent)
That evening, as Rudra washed his kit and hung it carefully, awareness aligned for a brief moment.
Overall EXP: steady increase
Emotional Control: reinforced under evaluation
Focus: stabilized under outcome
No level change.
No reward.
The system had already recorded today hours ago—during warm-ups, during silence, during restraint.
Night
At home, Rudra lay on his bed, muscles heavy but intact.
He wasn't selected yet.
He was allowed to continue.
That was enough.
District cricket wasn't won by making lists.
It was survived by those who treated every ordinary day after this as if they were still being watched.
And Rudra slept knowing—
From now on, they were.