A/N: If you like the story, rember to give a review. It'll motivate to continue with sa passion ✌️😁
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The middle of April 2013 was a chaotic ti for Mumbai Indians.
While the team was spiraling, Rocky Rudra beca the most talked-about substitute in the history of the league.
As the team struggled through the first six gas, the dia stopped calling him a "sub" and started calling him a "tactical weapon."
Match 3 vs PWI: MI won, but the highlight reel was Rudra at Point.
He denied Robin Uthappa three certain boundaries in the powerplay.
Cricinfo noted: "Mumbai is carrying a 12th man who is worth 20 runs a ga. Is it ti to give him a jersey?"
Match 4 vs RR: A crushing loss for MI. Amidst the carnage, Rudra sprinted 30 yards from deep square leg to pull off a sliding save that saved 4 runs. Shane Watson was seen shaking his head in disbelief.
Match 5 vs DD (Delhi): Another heavy defeat. The only roar from the Delhi crowd that wasn't for the ho team was when Rudra chased down a David Warner blast.
The "Rocky's Reaction", his ability to pivot before the ball was even struck, beca a viral case study for sports scientists.
By April 21, MI had only 3 wins from 6 gas.
The pressure on Ricky Ponting was imnse.
He was struggling for runs, and the team's balance was off.
___
The team arrived in Kolkata to face KKR.
The atmosphere in the dressing room was thick.
Everyone expected the sa lineup, but Ponting called a closed-door eting an hour before the toss.
Ricky Ponting stood up.
"I'm not scoring. And if I don't score, I'm holding back a better combination. I'm stepping down."
The room went silent.
Then, he looked at Rohit Sharma.
"Rohit, you're the captain now. It's your team."
It was already discussed behind the scenes and he was just bringing it out in the open.
All players had heard about it, so they had idea on how to react.
But Punter wasn't done.
He turned to the corner where Rudra was sitting, trying to stay invisible.
"And we need a spark at the top. Smithy (Dwayne Smith) is good, but I want a hunter. Rudra, you're not a sub today. You're opening the batting with Sachin."
___
When Rohit Sharma walked out for the toss instead of Ponting, the comntators nearly lost it.
"A massive, massive call from the Mumbai Indians! Rohit Sharma is the captain, and wait... we have a debutant. Rocky Rudra, the kid who has been terrorizing batsn from the boundary, is officially in the XI!" — Ravi Shastri.
[MI vs KKR | Eden Gardens]
Target: 160
Rudra walked out alongside Sachin Tendulkar.
The walk from the dugout to the center of Eden Gardens was the longest of his life.
40,000 people were screaming.
His legs felt like lead, but as he reached the crease, he saw the KKR fielders tightening up.
They knew him.
They weren't relaxing.
The First Ball:
Brett Lee was steaming in.
He wanted to test the kid.
He hurled a 145kph thunderbolt aid at the ribs.
Rudra didn't flinch. His Reflexes kicked in.
Without even thinking, he played a short-arm jab, a pick-up shot that sent the ball screaming over square leg for six.
The comntary box exploded.
"GOODNESS GRACIOUS! Welco to the IPL, Rudra! He's just pulled Brett Lee for six on his first-ever ball! This kid is absolutely fearless!" Danny Morrison.
Rudra didn't just bat.
He brought his fielding energy to the crease.
He and Sachin ran like lightning, turning easy singles into twos.
In the 4th over, Rudra took on Sunil Narine, dancing down the track to loft him over cover.
While Sachin fell early for 2, Rudra anchored the start.
He smashed 42* off 25 balls, including 4 fours and 2 sixes, providing the platform that allowed Rohit (34) and Kieron Pollard (33) to finish the chase.
___
MI won by 5 wickets.
The "Rohit Era" had begun with a victory, but the Man of the Match discussion was dominated by the debutant.
The Newspaper Headlines.
The Tis of India: "FROM BOUNDARY TO BATTING: ROCKY RUDRA ARRIVES."
The Post-Match Talk: Gautam Gambhir (KKR Captain) said in the presentation:
"We planned for their big hitters, but that kid... his hand-eye coordination is sothing else. He doesn't just see the ball. He anticipates it."
"We'll try to take it as a positive for us. This ga pointed out our flaws. We'll learn from it and coback harder."
___
Rohit Sharma hugged Rudra after the ga.
"You took the pressure off , kid. Keep playing like that, and you're never going back to that sub's vest."
___
The montum was undeniable.
Mumbai Indians had found their stride under Rohit Sharma, but the cricketing world was waiting for one specific clash:
MI vs CSK.
The "El Clásico" of the IPL.
The Stage: Wankhede Stadium.
The atmosphere was electric.
Yellow and Blue clashing in the stands. CSK had set a daunting target of 182, thanks to a classic Raina blitz.
As the sun dipped below the Arabian Sea, the floodlights took over, and two figures erged from the tunnel:
The Master, Sachin Tendulkar, and the apprentice, Rocky Rudra.
[MI Chase: 0.1 Over. Target: 182]
Rudra took guard.
He didn't look like a rookie. He was looking like a man possessed.
He stood with that slightly wider, crouched stance, a mirror image of Ricky Ponting.
Albie Morkel stead in and dropped it short, aiming for the throat.
Most 18-year-olds would duck.
Rudra didn't.
He swiveled on his back foot, his elbows high, and executed a ferocious pull shot that sent the ball into the second tier of the future Sachin Tendulkar Stand.
"OH MY WORD! That is a carbon copy!" scread Ravi Shastri.
"If you closed your eyes and opened them just now, you'd swear it was Ricky Ponting out there! The balance, the swivel, the sheer disdain for the pace!"
Sachin fell for 15, and Rohit for 20.
Suddenly, MI was 60/2.
The pressure was mounting.
Ravichandran Ashwin ca on to squeeze the run rate.
Rudra didn't just survive. He toyed with the fielders.
He used his insane reflexes to read the carrom ball out of the hand.
He stepped out and played a lofted straight drive, the "Ponting Punch", that cleared the sightscreen.
[The Final Charge: 18.2 Overs | MI 168/4]
Dwayne Bravo was at the top of his mark.
14 runs needed off 10 balls.
The Wankhede was chanting "ROCKY! ROCKY!"
Bravo bowled a slower-ball yorker.
Rudra, with his predatory anticipation, stayed back in his crease, opened the face of the bat at the last millisecond, and guided it past short third-man for four.
Next ball: a searing yorker.
Rudra dug it out and sprinted, a blink-and-you-miss-it second run that turned a safe single into a pressure-building double.
___
4 runs needed. Bravo went for the wide yorker.
Rudra reached out, his hands moving with that glitch in the matrix speed, and smashed a flat-batted cover drive.
It didn't bounce.
It just hissed across the grass and slamd into the foam padding.
MI won by 6 wickets. Rudra finished 88* off 48 balls.
___
The Wankhede was still chanting his na as Rudra walked up to the podium.
He looked exhausted, his shirt soaked in sweat and stained with the red soil he'd dived on earlier while fielding.
Ravi Shastri held the mic.
"Rocky, we've seen so innings in this stadium, but that pull shot off Morkel... that was pure nostalgia. You looked like you were channelizing Ponting himself. How do you feel?"
Rudra took a deep breath.
He didn't look at the caras.
Be looked at the trophy in his hand.
The calm mask had slipped, leaving a boy who looked like he was a little emotional.
"I'm happy for the win, sir," Rudra started, his voice thick with emotion.
"But today... this isn't for ."
The fans quieted down their cheers, noise was almost inaudible.
Everyone wanted to hear what Rocky was going to say.
"I want to dedicate this innings to my grandmother. She's the one who stayed up with in Cuttack when I was a kid, making sure I was fed after practice. And to my coach, Sujit Sir. Everyone sees the 90-mph throws and the sixes, but he's the one who stood in the heat for 7 years to teach how to move."
Rudra paused for a mont, took a deep breath then continued,
"Without them, there is no 'Rocky'. I'm just a boy from Odisha who got lucky enough to learn from the best."
The crowd erupted, not in cheers, but in a respectful standing ovation.
Even MS Dhoni, standing nearby, clapped his gloves together.
___
Cricinfo Headline: "The Student Becos the Master: Rudra's Ponting-esque 88* sinks CSK."
The Viral Clip:
A side-by-side video of Rudra's pull shot and Ponting's 2003 World Cup Final pull shot reached 10 million views by morning.
Brands were already scrambling.
He wasn't just a fielder.
He was the new face of Indian cricket.
.
.
(A/N: I'm hurrying his ipl season. After all, you can't except to write every matches.)
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