The squad announcement came with annotations now.
Not just names. Not just availability.
Roles.
Zayn scanned the list once, then again more carefully. His name sat in the middle, unremarkable, but the note beside it caught his eye.
Middle overs control – spin allocation
Nothing else.
No mention of seam. No "as required." No flexibility implied.
The system reacted before he did.
[Spin Utility Module: Stability Trending Up]
[Primary Skill Exposure: Unscheduled]
Zayn closed the notification without acknowledging it. He'd learned that silence didn't stop classification. Only action did.
At training, the bowling coach pulled him aside.
"Good clarity now," he said, upbeat. "We know what you give us."
Zayn nodded.
"Spin through the middle, take pace off the game. Keeps you in the side."
There it was. Not a threat. Not even pressure.
A promise with conditions.
Zayn waited a beat. "If it seams early?"
The coach smiled thinly. "We've got options for that."
Options. Plural. None of them him.
The system pinged again later, quieter this time.
[Primary Skill Drift Detected]
[Seam Proficiency: Declining Match Exposure]
Recommendation: Increase Utilization or Accept Reclassification
No directive. No punishment.
Just a fork in the road.
Match day arrived with an inconvenience England hadn't planned for.
Cloud cover lingered longer than forecast. The pitch, expected to be dry and placid, held moisture beneath the surface. When the first seamer hit the deck, the ball lifted awkwardly. The batter played and missed by inches.
Zayn watched from the boundary, arms folded, reading the surface like a second language he wasn't being allowed to speak.
Wickets fell early. Not many, but enough to confirm the read.
Seam was on.
Zayn didn't move when the captain glanced his way. He knew the signal wouldn't come yet. Plans were sticky things. Teams clung to them even when they stopped fitting.
By over fourteen, the swing dulled but the seam stayed honest. The run rate crept up. Not fast. Just enough to irritate.
The captain turned.
Zayn jogged in, already knowing the ball he'd be given.
Spin.
He took it without comment.
First over: tidy. Flat trajectory. Singles managed. Nothing offered. Nothing taken.
The system hummed approvingly.
[Spin Module Efficiency: Within Parameters]
At the other end, a seamer overpitched. Driven. Boundary. Pressure shifted sideways.
Zayn returned to his mark. The field was spread. Conservative. Safe.
The wrong shape for the pitch.
He stood there a moment longer than necessary, feeling the weight of the ball in his palm. Seam proud. Leather slightly damp.
The system flickered.
[Upcoming Delivery Type: Spin – Expected]
Zayn ran in.
And didn't change his grip.
The release felt familiar in a way spin never quite did. Wrist behind the ball. Seam upright. No disguise.
The ball kissed the surface and jagged back.
The batter was beaten clean.
A sound rippled through the field. Not noise. Awareness.
The captain straightened.
The keeper glanced up sharply.
Zayn walked back without looking anywhere.
[Role Deviation Detected]
[Subsystem Conflict Escalating]
Second ball. Same again. Fuller this time. Movement late. Pad struck. Appeal half-raised, then dropped.
The field shifted hurriedly. A slip crept in from nowhere.
No one said a word.
The over finished economically. More than that—it changed the rhythm. The batter stopped advancing. The non-striker backed up cautiously.
Control returned.
But not the planned kind.
Zayn handed the ball back.
The captain took it, paused, then tossed it to a seamer for the next over. A choice made without commentary.
No praise. No glare.
Just recalibration.
The system stayed silent for the rest of the innings.
England won again. Not comfortably. Not dramatically. Just enough.
In the dressing room, the conversation circled around moments that could be safely discussed. A catch. A misfield. A missed review.
Zayn changed quietly.
The bowling coach caught his eye once. Looked away.
That night, alone, Zayn opened the system.
No prompts greeted him.
Instead, a summary.
[Selection Probability: Unchanged]
[Role Stability: Decreased]
[Skill Volatility: Increased]
He read it twice.
He hadn't gained ground.
But he hadn't lost himself either.
Lauren messaged late.
Saw you bowled seam.
Zayn smiled faintly.
Only once.
Her reply came quickly.
That's how lines get drawn.
He set the phone down and began packing for the next match. Laid out his kit carefully. Bat. Pads. Two pairs of boots.
He paused.
Then took both seam shoes and spin spikes.
Not because he couldn't choose.
Because he wouldn't let them choose for him.
The system logged one final note before he closed it.
[Classification Pending]
Zayn didn't resolve it.
Some things, he'd learned, only clarified when pressure was applied again.
And next time, he wouldn't wait for permission.