Heartbeat slow, sweat dripping from his face. This is the moment. The bowler makes his run up. He looks nervous. It’s all in the eyes. The bowler is frightened. But not him, no. He cannot be frightened. This is his moment. His time to shine. Forever etch his name into the realms of history.
This is his time. The bowler makes his run up. Everything, the stadium, the cheering, the people, the players, everything becomes faded. From the moment the universe was created after the Big Bang to the rapid expansion of elements to the creation of galaxies and the star clusters to the raw unadulterated power of the black hole, everything in the universe has been aligned to bring him to this place at this point in time.
This is his time. The bowler approaches the crease. He instinct tells him to step forward. He does. The bowler delivers the ball. In real time, the moment might have felt like a fraction of a second. But for him, it might as well have been a whole lifetime. He was in another zone, a dimension where only the chosen ones were allowed to enter. He could see it all, the look of terror on the bowler’s face, the position of the seam on the ball, the people holding their breath.
This is his time. He can see the ball coming at his feet. He steps back. Time slows down. He sees the ball floating in midair. He adjusts his posture and takes a swing. Perfect contact. And then he takes a deep breath as the ball sails over the fence on the leg side.