Inter-School Bangalore Cricket Championship
The notice went up on the school board on a Wednesday morning.
By lunch, everyone knew.
By evening, everyone was talking.
The Bangalore Inter-School Cricket Championship was announced—an officially sanctioned tournament, larger than anything most school players had ever seen.
28 schools.
Across Bangalore.
Each school fielding two squads:
Under-16 Team
Under-18 Team
A total of 56 teams.
The matches would be played across four major grounds, rotating every week to keep conditions fair—different pitches, different outfields, no home advantage.
For students, it wasn't just another competition.
It was a filter.
District selectors would attend.
Academy scouts would rotate in quietly.
Coaches would watch without uniforms or introductions.
Everyone knew what it meant.
If you performed here, your name would not stay inside school walls.
Tournament Structure
Group Stage
7 groups of 4 schools
Each group played a round-robin
Top 2 teams advance
Knockout Stage
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
Both U-16 and U-18 followed the same structure, running parallel.
No combined scoring.
No shared glory.
Each age group stood on its own merit.
NITK English Medium School – Bangalore Branch
NITK was placed in Group C.
Strong schools.
Experienced academies.
Rudra's name appeared on the Under-16 squad list, written neatly in blue ink.
No captaincy.
No spotlight.
Just a name among eleven.
He read it once.
Then again.
Not with excitement.
With acceptance.
This was the kind of stage effort demanded—not promised.
Emotional Control
Lv 05 (86 / 100 EXP) → (88 / 100 EXP)
The system didn't light up.
Didn't announce anything.
Because participation alone meant nothing.
Only what happened on the field would count.
Rudra folded the notice carefully and placed it inside his bag.
Twenty-seven other schools.
Fifty-five other teams.
Hundreds of players chasing attention.
He wasn't chasing anything.
He was building.
And the tournament had just given him enough matches to prove whether the numbers he carried could survive pressure.