NEXUS Smart Stadium [PIC]
Roshan and Pradeep sat on the edge of their padded seats in Block C. The stadium lights were bright, casting a clear glow over the green grass. The run chase was about to begin.
Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar stood in the middle of the pitch.
Brett Lee took the new white ball for the World Legends XI. He marked his run-up. The crowd in the stadium stood up, clapping their hands in a steady beat.
Brett Lee ran in. He bowled the very first ball of the innings.
The ball was full and fast, aimed just outside the off-stump. Sehwag simply stood in his crease, cleared his front leg, and swung his bat with power.
The ball flew off the middle of the bat. It soared high into the night sky, flying straight over the point boundary for a massive six.
The stadium erupted. Sixty thousand people screamed at the top of their lungs.
"First ball!" Pradeep yelled, grabbing Roshan's arm and shaking it. "He hit a six on the very first ball! He has not changed at all!"
"That is exactly why we came here," Roshan laughed, clapping loudly.
Sehwag smiled down the pitch. Sachin Tendulkar walked down from the non-striker's end, a wide smile on his face, and offered a glove punch to his opening partner.
Brett Lee put his hands on his hips and laughed, shaking his head. He walked back to his mark. Sehwag hit another boundary in the same over, giving the India Legends a very fast start.
In the second over, Shaun Pollock came into the attack. Sachin Tendulkar took the strike.
The crowd immediately started the iconic chant. "SACHIN! SACHIN!"
Pollock ran in and bowled a full delivery, pitching it right on the middle stump. Sachin leaned slightly forward. He kept his head perfectly still and presented a completely straight bat. He drove the ball straight down the ground, right past the bowler.
The ball rolled smoothly across the grass and hit the boundary rope.
"The straight drive," Roshan said, shaking his head in admiration. "Nobody plays that shot better than him. It looks so simple, but it is perfect."
The first ten overs were a treat for the fans. Sehwag and Sachin played freely. They did not worry about the required run rate. They just played their natural game. Sehwag eventually got out trying to hit a ball over long-on, caught near the boundary.
Sourav Ganguly walked out to bat next.
When Daniel Vettori came on to bowl his spin, Ganguly did not wait. He stepped completely out of his crease, met the pitch of the ball, and hit a massive six over the bowler's head.
Pradeep jumped up so fast, throwing his hands in the air to cheer for Dada, that his plastic cup tilted.
"Oh no," Pradeep muttered, looking down at his sneakers. "I just spilled soda on my shoes."
Roshan laughed, handing him a tissue. The crowd roared for the Prince of Kolkata.
Later in the innings, V.V.S. Laxman walked out to bat. The local Hyderabad crowd gave him a massive standing ovation. Laxman played his classic wristy shots. When the fast bowlers bowled on his leg stump, he flicked the ball effortlessly through the mid-wicket gap for boundaries.
Rahul Dravid came in and played solid defensive shots. Behind the stumps, Adam Gilchrist was in a playful mood. The stump microphone picked up his constant chatter.
"Come on, Jammy, give us a swing! Just one!" Gilchrist chirped loudly, trying to playfully distract the Wall, bringing back their classic banter from the two thousands.
Dravid just smiled politely and defended the next ball right back to the bowler.
During one of these quiet, defensive overs, the sixty-thousand-strong crowd decided to entertain themselves. A massive, perfectly synchronized Mexican wave started in Block A and rolled beautifully around the entire circular stadium, creating a rippling wall of waving hands.
The India Legends approached the target of 176 runs smoothly in the eighteenth over.
Laxman was on strike. The bowler pitched the ball slightly wide outside the off-stump. Laxman waited, opened the face of his bat at the very last second, and threaded a delicate, flawless late cut right past the point fielder for a boundary.
The winning runs were hit. The roar of the home crowd was perfection.
The match ended. The players from both teams smiled, took off their helmets, and walked to the center of the pitch to shake hands.
"That was amazing," Pradeep said, finishing the last of his soda. "I feel like I am back in school, watching cricket on my old television."
Down on the field, the groundsmen quickly set up a presentation podium.
The BCCI President, Vinod Rai, walked onto the stage. Siddanth Deva walked with him. Vinod Rai picked up the glittering charity match trophy. Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, the two captains, walked up to the podium together.
Vinod Rai presented the trophy to both of them. They held it up together, smiling for the cameras. The crowd cheered loudly for the legends.
"Look," Roshan pointed at the boundary rope. "What are they bringing out?"
The stadium staff rolled five large, heavy metal devices onto the grass. They looked like short, thick pipes attached to air canisters.
"Those are t-shirt launchers," Pradeep said, sitting up straight.
Siddanth Deva picked up a microphone.
"Thank you all for making this charity match a massive success," Siddanth announced to the stadium. "Before the players leave, they have a few gifts for you."
The stadium staff wheeled out several large clothing bins. Inside the bins were hundreds of neatly folded jerseys.
Siddanth had ordered different national jerseys for this event. There were yellow Australian jerseys, green South African jerseys, blue Indian jerseys, dark blue Sri Lankan jerseys, maroon West Indian jerseys, light blue English jerseys, and black New Zealand jerseys.
Every single jersey had the name and number of a legend printed on the back. Furthermore, the players had spent the afternoon personally signing every single shirt in the bins.
Siddanth asked the legends to take the launchers.
Matthew Hayden picked up the first launcher. He loaded a signed yellow jersey into the barrel. He pointed it toward the upper tier of the stadium and pulled the trigger.
With a loud pop of compressed air, the bundled jersey shot high into the stands. A fan caught it and screamed in joy, waving the yellow shirt in the air.
Adam Gilchrist ran around the boundary line, shooting jerseys into different blocks. Sachin and Sehwag took their turns, sending signed blue jerseys flying into the screaming crowd.
Kevin Pietersen pointed his launcher toward the stands, but it made a dull hissing sound. The mechanism jammed. Pietersen laughed, shook his head, pulled the jersey out of the barrel, and just threw it with his bare hands as hard as he could into the lower tier.
The legends walked around the entire perimeter of the stadium, using the five launchers to distribute the gifts. The fans in the stands scrambled and jumped, trying to catch the flying shirts.
After the bins of shirts were empty, the stadium staff brought out a final cart.
The cart was filled with soft, synthetic cricket balls. They were not hard leather, so they would not hurt anyone in the crowd. Siddanth handed the players thick permanent markers.
The players stood near the boundary line. They signed the soft balls quickly. Then, they took their cricket bats, tossed the balls into the air, and hit them directly into the stands.
"They are hitting balls into the crowd!" Pradeep yelled, standing up from his seat. "Get ready!"
Ricky Ponting hit a ball toward the deep mid-wicket stands.
Brian Lara picked up his ball, tossed it gently onto the grass, took a stylish, one-handed golf swing with his cricket bat, and chipped the ball effortlessly into the deep cover stands with pure Caribbean flair.
Sachin Tendulkar signed a ball, handed the marker to Gilchrist, who also signed it, and then passed it to Pietersen. Pietersen added his signature. Sachin took his heavy bat, tossed the ball up, and hit it firmly.
The ball sailed high into the air. It was heading directly toward Block C.
"Roshan! It is coming right at us!" Pradeep shouted, tracking the white ball against the stadium lights.
Roshan stepped forward. He kept his eyes on the ball. The ball started dropping fast.
A man in the row right in front of them jumped up, reaching his hands out to grab the ball.
Roshan did not hesitate. He stepped onto his chair, pushed off the padded seat, and jumped as high as he could. He reached over the man in front of him.
The soft ball hit Roshan's hands. He grabbed it tightly.
The man in front turned around and tried to snatch the ball out of Roshan's hands. "Hey, that was mine!"
Pradeep immediately stepped in between them. He pushed his shoulder forward, blocking the man. "He caught it clean, Anna. Step back."
Roshan pulled the ball firmly against his chest, dropping back down to the floor of his row. The man glared at them but turned back around, realizing he lost the brief struggle.
Roshan breathed heavily. He opened his hands and looked at the white synthetic ball.
"Let me see it," Pradeep said eagerly, leaning over.
There were three distinct signatures written in black marker on the white surface of the ball. The handwriting was rushed and scribbled.
"I cannot read this," Roshan said, frowning at the cursive writing. "Who signed it?"
Pradeep pulled his bolt smartphone out of his pocket. "Hold the ball steady."
Pradeep opened his phone browser. He took a picture of the signatures on the ball and ran a quick image search for cricket autographs.
He compared the results on his screen to the ball in Roshan's hand.
Pradeep's eyes widened. He looked at Roshan.
"Roshan," Pradeep said, his voice full of disbelief. "Look at this one. The loop on the 'S'."
"Sachin?" Roshan asked.
"Yes," Pradeep confirmed. He pointed to the second signature. "And this one with the long tail... that is Adam Gilchrist. And the third one is Kevin Pietersen."
Roshan stared at the ball in his hands. He had just caught a single ball signed by three of the greatest players in the history of the sport. A massive smile broke across his face.
"We are keeping this in a glass box," Roshan declared.
"We are sharing custody," Pradeep demanded. "I protected you from that guy."
"Deal," Roshan agreed, putting the ball safely into his backpack.
The stadium slowly began to empty. The players had waved their final goodbyes and returned to the dressing rooms through the glass player tunnel. The fans in the concourse cheered as they walked past the glass walls.
Roshan and Pradeep walked up the stairs and exited their seating block. They walked into the wide, clean concourse. The air conditioning vents were still blowing cool air.
"The match was great, but we missed a lot of the stadium features," Pradeep noted, looking at the long lines near the VR batting cages.
"We will come back," Roshan said, adjusting his backpack. "We will come back on a non-match day next week. We will do the Sky Walk on the roof when there is no crowd, and we will try the VR batting cages properly."
"Sounds like a plan," Pradeep agreed.
They walked out of the stadium gates, joining the thousands of happy fans heading toward the metro station. Roshan clutched his backpack incredibly tight to his chest, walking as if he were transporting the royal crown jewels.
They boarded the crowded metro train. Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the plastic seats, Pradeep gently unzipped the top of the backpack just an inch. They both peeked inside, looking at the black marker signatures on the white ball one more time before the train reached their stop. The night was perfect.
While the fans made their way home, the players finished packing their kit bags in the dressing rooms. They boarded the luxury buses waiting in the secure underground tunnel of the stadium.
The buses drove quietly through the city and arrived at a premium five-star hotel in Banjara Hills.
Siddanth Deva had booked the entire top floor of the hotel, including a massive, private banquet hall, exclusively for the legends.
The players walked into the banquet hall. The room was decorated elegantly. Soft music played in the background. Long tables were set with a massive spread of food, featuring both continental dishes and traditional Hyderabadi cuisine.
Siddanth stood near the entrance, welcoming the players as they walked in. He had changed out of his formal clothes and wore a simple, dark shirt and trousers.
Adam Gilchrist caught Siddanth's eye and walked over.
"Great setup, Sid," Gilchrist smiled, shaking his hand. "It feels just like yesterday you were a seventeen-year-old kid walking into the Deccan Chargers dressing room, bowling 150 clicks in the nets and terrifying the life out of us."
"I learned from the best captain, Gilly," Siddanth smiled warmly, remembering the 2009 IPL season. "You gave me the new ball when no one else would."
Gilchrist patted his arm affectionately and walked off to join the others.
Siddanth spent the next hour walking around the banquet hall. He mingled with everyone.
He noticed Brett Lee, Zaheer Khan, and Javagal Srinath sitting together on a plush sofa. They were not talking about swing bowling; they were rubbing their knees and lower backs, laughing and complaining about how much everything hurt compared to ten years ago.
Near the dessert table, Anil Kumble, Daniel Vettori, and Muttiah Muralitharan formed a 'Spinners' Corner.' They were quietly, intensely debating how the thick edges of modern bats had completely ruined the game for spin bowlers.
Over by the buffet line, Ricky Ponting took a large bite of authentic, spicy Hyderabadi Haleem. A second later, Ponting's eyes widened. His nose started watering instantly. He frantically reached across the table, grabbing a large glass of iced water and chugging it, while Gilchrist leaned against the wall nearby, laughing hysterically at his captain's struggle with the local spice.
It was a quiet, private dinner. There were no cameras, no media reporters, and no fans asking for autographs. The retired players enjoyed the rare opportunity to sit together and talk about their old tours and shared memories without any pressure.
Mohammad Kaif, acting like a true fanboy, even walked up to Brian Lara with a polite smile, asking him to sign a menu card so he could take it home to his kids.
At 11:30 PM, Siddanth checked his phone.
He walked over to the center table where Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were sitting.
"Sachin paaji, Viru paaji," Siddanth said quietly. "I am going to take my leave now. The hotel staff will take care of anything you need."
"You are leaving early, Siddu?" Sachin asked. "The party is just starting."
"I have to go back to the farmhouse," Siddanth explained, offering a warm smile. "Krithika is waiting. The doctors said the due date is very close, so I do not want to stay away from home for too long at night."
Sachin smiled with deep understanding. He stood up and patted Siddanth's shoulder.
"Go home, Siddu," Sachin told him warmly. "Family comes first. Thank you for organizing this match and bringing all of us together. It was a wonderful evening."
Before Siddanth could turn away, Sachin reached into his pocket and quietly slipped a small, beautiful silver coin engraved with a traditional blessing into Siddanth's hand.
"Give this to Krithika from my side," Sachin said softly. "For the baby."
"I will. Thank you, paaji," Siddanth replied, deeply touched.
Siddanth waved a quiet goodbye to the rest of the players in the hall. He walked out the doors, took the private elevator down to the basement parking, and got into his waiting car.
The car drove down the quiet highway toward Shamshabad. Siddanth pressed a button, rolling the tinted window down halfway. The cool, crisp night breeze filled the cabin.
---
@CricFan_Ravi: I was at the stadium tonight. Ordered Shadab Biryani from my phone app and a guy delivered it right to my chair while Sehwag hit a six! We are living in the future! 🏏🍲
@BlueArmy_Hyd: The air conditioning vents at the seats are a lifesaver. Sitting with 60,000 people and I didn't sweat a single drop. Deva built a masterpiece. ❄️
@NostalgiaCric: When Sachin played that straight drive off Pollock, my childhood flashed before my eyes. The acoustics in this stadium made the crowd sound incredibly loud!
@LuckyFan99: I caught one of the t-shirts launched by Gilchrist! Best night ever! Thank you, Nexus! 👕🔥
@MovieBuff_Telangana: The Ramayana teasers playing on those massive screens during the innings break was a religious experience. Prabhas looks majestic! 🏹👑
@MexicanWaveKing: The Mexican wave going around the curved stands looked beautiful. The lighting here makes everything look like a movie set.
@LaxmanWrist: Seeing VVS Laxman play that late cut past point in his home city again... pure poetry. The crowd went crazy.
@Pradeep_Tech: I spilled soda on my shoes cheering for Dada's step-out six, but it was totally worth it. The seating is so comfortable!
@GullyCricketPro: We actually saw the players hyping each other up through the glass player tunnel before they walked out. The access this stadium gives to fans is unmatched.
@KP_Fanclub: KP's launcher jammed and he just chucked the shirt into the stands while laughing. Vintage Kevin Pietersen! 😂
@LaraCoverDrive: Brian Lara chipping a soft ball into the crowd with a one-handed golf swing. Caribbean flair never fades! 🌴⛳
@TechNerd_Hyd: The floor in the concourse bounces slightly when you walk. They actually installed kinetic tiles to generate power. Mind blown. 💡
@DravidWall: Gilly chirping at Dravid on the stump mic brought back so many memories. "Give us a swing, Jammy!"
@StadiumVlogger: I stood right behind the dugout seats. You are literally at grass level with the players. The view is insane.
@CricketDad: Dropped my kids at the glass playroom in the concourse and watched the match peacefully. Best stadium feature ever invented. 🧸
@WaterSaver: No plastic bottles! Just clean paper cups and cold water filters everywhere. Love the green initiative by Nexus. 💧
@VR_Cricket: Tried the VR batting cage in the hallway. Facing a digital Siddanth Deva 150kph ball is terrifying. I missed it completely. 🕶️
@SehwagSwag: First ball of the match. Six. Viru paaji has no respect for the bowler's plans. Some things never change.
@KaifDive: Kaif diving at point to save a boundary. The man is still the fittest fielder on the grass.
@GoldenEraCric: Sitting shoulder to shoulder on the metro going home, everyone is just smiling and talking about the 90s players. A perfect evening. 🚇
@CouchCricExpert: Watching this match on TV and crying. I regret not buying tickets so much. Seeing Sachin and Viru bat together again brings tears to my eyes. 😭
@DelhiFan: Why isn't this stadium in my city?!
@IPL_Dreamer: The lighting in that new stadium makes the grass look like a video game. I am definitely booking tickets for the Sunrisers matches this season!
@MumbaiCricketLover: Deva casually testing his new stadium with the greatest players in cricket history. Billionaire moves.
@RamayanaHype: I wish I was there to see the teasers on the big screen. The atmosphere on TV sounded electric!
@NostalgicTears: Seeing Kumble, Zaheer, and Srinath bowling together. It feels like 2003 again. Miss these legends.
@StadiumEnvy: The Dugout seats look amazing. I am saving up money just to sit in that front row next time.
@AussieFan_TV: Even the Aussie legends look like they are having the time of their lives. Great initiative for charity. 🇦🇺
@VirtualTour: I need to do that Sky Walk on the roof. Walking around the top of the stadium looks terrifying but awesome.
@FutureIsHere: Nexus Smart Stadium just set the benchmark. Every other stadium in the country looks ancient now. Cannot wait for the IPL to start there! 🏟️✨