The domestic cricket scene looked promising. The league he had helped start had grown into a veritable circuit of fourteen states competing for the domestic trophy. Top performers from the league were a shoo-in for the international team. The amount of press the league itself received was astonishing; notable match-winning innings were finding their way to the front pages. One such innings, a century, that had drawn plaudits belonged to a familiar name – Ranjit Singh. The opening batsman was interviewed after winning the league; he’d had a stupendous season despite the added pressure of captaincy. Abhimanyu felt genuinely happy when he learned that Ranjit Singh of Songadh had been selected for the national side of the upcoming season; what was even more heartening to read was the presence of non-royals in the league. A railway employee, a former farmer; young men from the smallest villages of India to its biggest cities. Cricket had found its way on the streets of India and unearthed talent in the most unsuspecting of places. However, that pleasant feeling of seeing his plans play out soon faded. Abhimanyu couldn’t help but imagine what his own career would have turned out to be if not for the injury. A sinking feeling of what could have been began to overcome him once again.

Shaking his head as if to shake himself out of his blues, Abhimanyu decided to continue his cricket rediscovery efforts by catching a local game. Luckily, a match was slated to commence that very day at the Ranakpour royal grounds, which the family had opened up for the locals to use. Heavily hungover, he ordered breakfast and took up a seat in the stands behind the bowling end. The crowd that had gathered at the stands was rather surprised to see the reclusive prince in public but knew better than to bother him with greetings and turned their attention to the match.

It was easy for the former fast bowler to predict the pattern of the opening spell of the match. The bowler on the ground had bowled three overs of persistent out-swingers to one of the batsmen who was finding it difficult to get off the strike. The bowler kept prodding the outside edge of the bat as the batsman either left the ball or played a defensive shot. As the bowler marked his run up for a new over, Abhimanyu could sense it coming.