God of Cricket!-Chapter 51: Prelude to Match against Sussex

Chapter 51: Prelude to Match against Sussex

"Good work guys. The sessions haven’t been easy but you guys have coped well," Coach Amre said as the players caught their breaths after the fielding drills at Hove.

"This will go a long way to us having a fantastic Ranji season and I hope you guys don’t slack. Am I clear?" Amre stated.

The players nodded while few shouts of confirmation were muttered out.

The training session for today too had been taxing.

They had trained in the morning and had been training since the afternoon too.

It seems that the manager really wanted a team with good fitness and crazy match sharpness for the longer format.

Aryan who had used a Recovery Elixir was still teeming with energy. He looked up as the wind blew on his face occasionally.

"I have gotten a few points since the end of last season so let’s upgrade when we get the chance to do so," Aryan thought making a mental note.

"Okay guys let’s head back to the hotel and make sure to get some rest because we’ll still have a warm-up session before the match tomorrow," Coach Kulkarni said.

The players couldn’t help but show their dissatisfaction over this.

Aryan smiled at his teammates who were awfully tired but had no choice but to obey their coach.

"Don’t be wussies people, the fitness team have prepared ice baths and match recovery sessions for you all so finish that and let us go," Coach Amre said.

The players were still lazing around after he said that so he decided to take it to the extreme.

"If you guys don’t get up quickly, you’ll be fined ₹50,000 when we get back."

This brought a sudden spike in the number of players who stood up and began running towards the fitness center of the stadium.

Aryan who had already begun walking after Coach Amre told them the first time couldn’t help but laugh at his teammates who were struggling to run towards the center in order to escape a fine.

Even their team’s captain, Wasim Jaffer, was also running. "Haah, money," Aryan muttered as he looked on at the sight of the players still running.

[Fitness Center]

At the fitness center, the players were told to prepare for their ice baths.

Aryan quickly removed his shirt after he got there.

This act drew stares from his teammates. This was because of Aryan’s neatly done abs that looked like they were sculpted.

Aryan wasn’t bulky, but one could see his lean and strong muscles that looked like they were brimming with energy—a physique uncommon for Indian cricketers in 2007.

"You know, I’m not gay or anything but damn," Rohit said breaking the silence.

The players, after Rohit said this, all focused on him. All the players looked at him and made a face that screamed, "Is this guy dumb?"

Rohit sensing this meekly made his way toward the baths and laid down in the cold tub.

Aryan and the other players followed suit and soon enough, the place was quiet as the players tried to soak in the feeling and wash away all their tiredness.

After the baths, the players were led through a series of nimble and effortless exercises led by a physio.

Soon after the players were done with their session, they quickly got on the bus and made their way towards the hotel.

On the bus, Aryan replied to a few messages from his friends and contacts.

"How’s the pre-season going?" Suresh, Aryan’s teammate from the youth team, asked in a message.

Aryan replied, telling him about their matches and how it was.

"Wish I could be there too," Suresh said.

"In perfect time bro, in time," Aryan texted ending their conversation.

Aryan looking through the window saw an advertisement which had the face of an English player on it.

This brought his attention to the talk with Meera about growing his brand.

Aryan, curious, decided to check his social media accounts. He first opened Facebook (or Orkut) to see how he was faring there.

Aryan Sharma

Posts: 31 | Followers: 4.4M | Following: 77

(Note: Followers adjusted for 2007 context - likely 440k or high Orkut friends, but sticking to text logic, let’s assume it’s massive).

Aryan looked at his followers and couldn’t help but smile. It seems his antics here in England had drawn him a bit of followers.

He exited and opened his Twitter account that had also grown with him now having 1.3 million followers.

His Twitter account didn’t really have anything going on aside from a few videos and pictures of their tour.

"Might have to talk to Meera about that Social Media Manager soon," he said as his Twitter growth seemed to be stagnant because of his inactivity and lack of content.

Aryan exited the app and after putting on his iPod earphones, he proceeded to close his eyes while listening to some music.

[Somewhere in London - A Luxury Apartment]

"Dad, can I go and watch a cricket match tomorrow?" a female voice rang. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Why are you so obsessed with cricket as my daughter? Even your brother, even he doesn’t show interest in cricket as you do," a man said.

"But Dad, it’s our interests, and can you stop your comments about me liking cricket? It’s not a sport for men, Dad, it’s for everyone to enjoy," the feminine voice roared once again.

"Yo-, fine you can go but make sure you go with your brother," the man said conceding to his daughter.

"Awww, thanks Dad," she said planting a kiss on the man’s cheeks.

"Oh and Aisha, I want you to mee-" the man tried to say but was cut off.

"Don’t ruin the moment Dad please," Aisha said with a scary smile that made her Father retreat to his shell.

Aisha walked out of the room into the elevator as both men in the room stared on.

"She’s scary," the older male said.

"You have no idea Dad," Aisha’s elder brother, Rohan (not the U19 teammate, new character), said.

"Which match is she going to watch?" Rohan’s father asked.

"I think it’s Mumbai from India against Sussex from here."

"She’s probably going to that match because of that boy we sa-" Rohan said realizing what he had just done.

"What boy?" the man said in a scary voice.

"Umm, it’s a cricket player she’s been following for a while now," Rohan replied meekly.

"Ohhh, cricket player now. Which team does he play for?"

"He plays for the Mumbai team and he’s actually a very good player and he’s young too," Rohan said.

"How old?" Rohan’s father asked.

"I think he’s 15 or 16 years old," Rohan replied.

A loud silence rang in the room after he said this.

"Hey Rohan, does your sister like younger guys?" the man said releasing all the pent-up tension in the conversation.

"Come on Dad, it’s just a 1 or 2 year gap plus we don’t know if she likes the boy," Rohan said.

"Have you seen your sister show interest in a male like this?" Rohan’s father, Mr. Vikram Malhotra (wealthy NRI), said.

"Well you have a point Dad bu-"

"Then that’s that then," Vikram said cutting off his son. "I’ll see him for myself," he added resolutely.

Rohan felt sorry for his sister as he had caused trouble for her. "Godspeed Aisha, Godspeed," he muttered.

[Aisha]

She was happy that her father had allowed her to go and watch the match.

She had seen Aryan on Facebook/Orkut for a while now and had decided to follow the boy mainly because he was cute and he also played her favorite sport, cricket.

She had been surprised by his age because of how mature he seemed in his interactions with others in videos and on the Internet.

"Let’s make this worthwhile," she said while walking out of a tall skyscraper in Canary Wharf.

Aryan, oblivious to the conversation about him, had just arrived at the hotel with his teammates.

He decided to rest a bit before dinner and was now trying to sleep.

He still couldn’t fall asleep so he decided to research some places to go with his mother after pre-season.

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing and he smiled as he looked at the name on the phone.

"Hey Ananya," he said meekly. "Hi, Aryan," she replied shyly on the other side.

They had talked a while back and their conversation had spiraled into something else which had resulted in how they were talking around each other.

"What are you doing?" Aryan asked.

"Nothing really, I just finished a lecture and I decided to call you," she replied.

The two proceeded to talk about little and irrelevant subjects with a few jokes mixed in.

Aryan had been surprised by Ananya’s sense of humor after the two had gotten comfortable around each other.

The two talked for a while before deciding to end it after Rohit called Aryan down for dinner.

Aryan after ending the call went down to join the team for dinner before heading back up to rest.

Rohit on the other hand decided to watch a few ’movies’ before he slept.

[The Next Day]

The players woke up early and headed to the County Ground, Hove for the last training session before the game in the evening (assuming D/N First Class match or just match day morning).

The training session was fruitful as Aryan seemed to be back to his best.

Aryan had told Coach Amre he was fit enough to start the match (ankle healed).

Although

(To be Continued)