The innings dragged.Field placements changed too often.
Rithik rotated bowlers mid-over.The score climbed because nothing stuck — not the strategy, not the spirit.
By the 11th over, the opponent had passed 85 with ease.
But Raj?
He never stopped reading the gaps.He'd shifted his own position three times quietly, subtly — matching the batter's backlift.
And in the 12th over, when the biggest hitter tried an inside-out loft?
Raj was already waiting under it.Catch taken.Wrist steady.
No celebration.Just execution.
The team clapped, relief more than joy.
Rithik shouted, "That's what I'm talking about!"
But even he knew — Raj hadn't followed an order.He'd followed a thread.
One that wasn't his to pull today, yet still tightened every time he moved.
Back in the dugout, a league scout murmured to a panelist.
"Still following instructions?"
The panelist shook his head.
"No.He's replacing them, one read at a time."
⟐ SYSTEM RECORD: SILENT INFLUENCE DETECTED ⟐
