Free Web NovelChapter 26: The Weight Of Improvement
The next few days became repetitive.
School.
Morning nets.
Evening missions.
Sleep.
Repeat.
And honestly?
Sahil had never worked this hard in his life before.
Back in Riverside Gully—
improvement happened naturally.
You played matches.
Hit balls.
Argued with friends.
Got better slowly.
But now?
Every weakness was visible.
Measured.
Punished.
Especially during leather-ball practice.
Coach Verma kept targeting the same flaws repeatedly.
"Your front foot stops halfway."
"You swing across the line too much."
"Balance first. Power later."
At this point Sahil could hear those lines even in his sleep.
Still—
something important was changing.
His batting no longer looked completely wild.
Earlier Sahil only had two modes:
Attack.
Or panic.
Now there was a middle ground.
Control.
During one practice match at school—
that improvement became obvious.
Practice Match
Senior Nets vs Trial Players
Format: 12 Overs
Target: 102
Trial Players collapsed early.
34/3 after four overs.
Kabir was batting smoothly at one end already.
Sahil entered at number three.
And immediately noticed something different.
Nobody sledged him now.
Earlier people mocked him openly.
Now?
They adjusted fields carefully instead.
Deep midwicket back.
Long-on pushed deeper.
Extra cover wider.
That tiny change felt strangely satisfying.
People respected his hitting now.
The first few overs stayed quiet.
Singles.
Twos.
One controlled pull shot for four.
No madness.
No unnecessary slogging.
Even the system remained mostly silent.
Then a medium pacer tried bowling short.
Instinct activated immediately.
Sahil pulled aggressively.
The ball absolutely exploded off the bat.
SIX.
Straight over square leg.
The sound echoed across the practice ground loudly enough to stop conversations nearby.
Even senior players looked over briefly.
But this time—
the shot looked cleaner.
Balanced.
Less desperate.
SHOT ANALYSIS COMPLETE
Connection Quality: 81%
Timing: 79%
Positive: ✔ Improved weight transfer ✔ Better shot balance retention ✔ Controlled power release
Observation: Host adapting previous street-cricket instincts into structured batting.
That observation honestly mattered more than the six itself.
Because Sahil was finally learning how to use his old habits correctly instead of removing them completely.
By the final over:
Trial Players — 91/5
Needed: 11 from 6 balls
Kabir: 44* (31)
Sahil: 29* (14)
Coach Verma watched silently from behind the nets again.
No expressions.
No reactions.
Just observing.
First ball.
Single.
Kabir retained strike. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Needed: 10 from 5.
Second ball.
Kabir drove through covers.
FOUR.
Needed: 6 from 4.
Third ball.
Dot.
Fourth ball.
Single.
Now Sahil took strike.
Needed: 5 from 2.
Field spread instantly.
Everyone already knew the plan.
If Sahil connected—
the match ended immediately.
The bowler hesitated slightly.
Then delivered slower outside off.
Sahil swung hard early.
Mistimed.
High in the air.
Long-off settled underneath confidently.
Then suddenly—
the ball kept traveling.
Further.
Further.
And cleared the boundary somehow.
SIX.
The entire ground reacted instantly.
Even Sahil froze for half a second.
"That was nowhere near middle..."
Kabir started laughing immediately from the non-striker end.
"How strong ARE you?"
SHOT ANALYSIS COMPLETE
Connection Quality: 49%
Timing: 53%
Boundary Cause: Extreme raw bat acceleration.
Important: Host currently compensating technical flaws through elite power output.
Future Risk: Poor habits may return under pressure situations.
That last line mattered.
Because the system was right.
Whenever pressure increased—
Sahil still relied too much on power.
Still—
the Trial Players had won.
And this time—
Sahil contributed without throwing his wicket away recklessly.
That alone felt like progress.
Later that evening—
Mission 3 finally neared completion.
MISSION 3 PROGRESS
Shadow Swings: 19,441 / 20,000
Valid Repetitions: 18,103
Only a little left now.
But strangely—
Sahil no longer hated the repetition.
Because every swing now felt smoother than before.
Cleaner.
More natural.
And deep down—
for the first time—
he could genuinely feel himself becoming stronger at cricket.
Not just stronger physically.
Better overall.
