Shreyas waited. He knew the chase was on.
He let Santner spin his web. One ball at a time.
After 10 balls, he had 11 runs. Most batters would’ve panicked. They would’ve swung wildly just to keep the scoreboard moving. But Shreyas isn’t the most, at least not anymore. He knew the night was long. And he knew it would belong to him if he waited long enough.
He waited for the loose ones but MI didn’t give them. They even played the Bumrah card early.
***
Bumrah came in for his second over after leaking twenty in his first. For anyone else, 20 runs per over, might have meant a bad day.
For Bumrah, it was just a bad opening act. Everyone knew it. The team knew it. But Shreyas was ready for Bumrah’s main act.
Shreyas had a choice. Go full ‘Inglis’ mode, or keep it simple. Shreyas chose the latter.
He noticed the yorker from afar. We saw it too. He brought the bat down like a lever and angled it between two fielders who got reduced to spectators. Not many can do that. But Shreyas isn’t many.
Nineteen off fifteen now. He was catching up.
On a night when bowlers bled runs, Shreyas picked his targets like a sniper. Topley dropped one in the slot. Shreyas shot it down like clay shooting. Topley returned and gifted a couple more. Shreyas picked them up like pancakes during his walk to fifty.
Bumrah, even angrier, threw one of his best deliveries at Shreyas. Another day, it would’ve crushed toes. Another day, we would’ve seen stumps doing a cartwheel.
But Shreyas held his ground. Gave himself a bit of room and guided the ball behind. It wasn’t just a shot. It was a statement. These don’t usually make headlines. But they shape them. The ball obeyed Shreyas that night.
When Bumrah bowls a yorker, other batters react. Shreyas drafts.
You think he had closed his stance to nudge it to square leg. You see him shuffle across. But in the next frame, the ball is flying behind short third.
He creates a space that never existed in the first place. When you finally
find the angle to place the fielder, he changes the direction. He sold the idea. Changed the reality. It’s not misdirection. It’s mastery. It’s not an edge. It’s intention.
For every such yorker, his shuffle changes. The angle of the shot changes. His grip changes. But the result stays the same.
Bumrah gave just twenty more in his next three. Ended wicketless. But more importantly, he left with more questions. Shreyas had already solved the paper.
From there, he raced to 48. His next puzzle was Boult.
Boult is like an old professor. You don’t outsmart him by innovation. You pass by showing you’ve studied the field well. Shreyas passed by reading the gaps.
**
Ashwani Kumar kept things quiet for a while. But he lost to Shreyas’ patience. Everyone knew the nineteenth would decide the match. Everyone knew Shreyas was ready. Ashwani wasn’t.
A ball in the slot. Gone over deep midwicket. Next ball, a no-ball. Shreyas sat deep in the crease, waited, and slapped the free hit over extra cover.
Ashwani tried to go wide next. Beaten. You could see Shreyas learning in the mid-over.
The next Shreyas shuffle was so early that it caught Ashwani off-guard. Shreyas took full advantage of it and launched one over Cow Corner. Another one went over long-on.
As he finished it off, Shreyas spit out his gum and walked off. No smile. No arms raised. No big celebrations. No roar.
He had played finals before. Lifted a trophy before. But this one felt different. This one came from nowhere. PBKS were dismissed before they began. Shreyas was doubted and written off. And now, he has led a group of uncapped players and dreamers to the final.
Earlier, Shreyas had said he lost only the battle against RCB and promised the war wasn’t over. On June 3, he gets to finish what he started.
