The polished glass doors of the team hotel in Begumpet slid open, welcoming Siddanth Deva into the air-conditioned lobby.
Deva crossed the marble floor with his kitbag over his shoulder.
The 2022 season had followed the IPL Mega Auction, which had dismantled established squads and scattered players across the league.
Deva understood the business of the auction, but the departures had still hurt.
The new Gujarat franchise had used their pre-auction picks to take two key players from Sunrisers: Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill.
Rashid had been central to their middle-over attack, while Gill had developed under Deva's guidance.
Deva hadn't fought the transfers. He simply sent both a message, wishing them luck and warning them that he wouldn't hold back when they met on the field.
The management had protected the core they could. Deva, David Warner, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were retained before the auction.
With their remaining purse, they brought back Kane Williamson, along with Abhishek Sharma and Arjun Tendulkar.
The core had survived.
Now it was time to meet the new recruits.
Deva walked toward the elevators.
Standing near the doors was a familiar figure with a coffee cup.
"Heinrich," Deva called.
Heinrich Klaasen turned around. The South African wicketkeeper-batsman recognized his new captain and stepped forward.
"Skip," Klaasen greeted with a smile. "It's an honor to be here, mate."
"The honor is ours. Welcome to the Orange Army," Deva replied. "I was watching the auction from my office. When the gavel went down and we secured you for one crore, I knew it was the steal of the auction."
Klaasen chuckled. "I'm just glad to have the opportunity, Sid. The middle order looks strong. I'm ready to do whatever the team needs."
"We'll need you to hit spin into the upper tiers," Deva said. "Settle in, get some rest. I'll see you at the team meeting."
Before the elevator doors opened, a familiar voice echoed through the lobby.
"SID BHAI!"
Deva closed his eyes and smiled.
He turned just in time to catch Yuzvendra Chahal, who practically launched himself into a hug.
"Yuzi," Deva laughed, patting him on the back before gently pushing him away. "You're going to pull a muscle before we even step onto the pitch."
"I am just so happy to be home, bhai!" Chahal said, gesturing to his orange training shirt. "You guys left me to the wolves in the previous mega auction! Do you know how hard it was playing against you?!"
"We didn't leave you to the wolves, Yuzi. We ran out of money," Deva replied. "But the management made bringing you back a priority. Welcome home."
"And look who I brought with me!"
Chahal stepped aside, revealing Kuldeep Yadav.
"Kuldeep," Deva smiled, shaking his hand. The left-arm wrist-spinner had endured a difficult couple of years, but Deva knew his ability.
"It is good to have you here. I've wanted you in this squad for a long time."
"It's good to be here, Sid bhai," Kuldeep replied.
"The Kul-Cha duo is officially reunited under the Devil's captaincy," Chahal declared. "The other franchises are going to forfeit before they even get off the bus."
"Let's focus on landing the ball on the pitch first, Yuzi," Deva replied, pressing the elevator button.
Over the next hour, Deva personally greeted the new arrivals.
He welcomed David Miller and assured him that he would have freedom to finish games. He also spoke to Rahul Tripathi, whose aggressive batting suited the team's approach.
Later that afternoon, Deva sat in a private meeting room with Head Coach Tom Moody and Bowling Coach Muttiah Muralitharan.
A tablet on the table displayed the finalized twenty-two-man squad.
"It's a deep squad, Siddanth," Moody said. "We lost Rashid, but Chahal and Kuldeep give us another option in the middle overs."
"And Washington Sundar gives us off-spin against left-handers in the powerplay," Deva added. "The spin department is covered."
Muralitharan pointed toward the fast bowlers.
"The pace attack is where we have plenty of variety. Bhuvi gives us swing and death bowling. Natarajan gives us the left-arm angle and yorkers. Marco Jansen and Fazalhaq Farooqi give us bounce and left-arm pace. Kartik Tyagi has raw pace. And then we have Umran Malik."
Deva nodded.
"Umran is the wild card. He needs polish. But you cannot teach a man to bowl 150 kilometers an hour. He has the lightning. We just have to build the conductor."
Deva looked over the roster one final time.
Siddanth Deva (c), David Warner, Kane Williamson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Arjun Tendulkar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, T. Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Abdul Samad, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Glenn Phillips, Upendra Yadav, and Sanvir Singh.
"It's a championship squad," Deva concluded. "We have power at the top, experience in the middle, and a bowling attack that can adapt to different surfaces. Now, we need to make them play as one unit."
"The bus leaves in forty minutes," Moody smiled. "Let's see what they look like on the grass."
The team bus left the congested streets of Hyderabad and headed toward Uppal.
As it cleared the final overpass, the new players looked out of the windows.
The Nexus Smart Stadium rose ahead of them.
The bus entered the underground parking area.
The players collected their bags and entered the home dressing room.
Thirty minutes later, the squad stepped onto the turf for its first training session.
The coaching staff divided the players into groups.
Deva headed to the batting nets.
He strapped on his pads and helmet before stepping into the right-side net. Warner took the net beside him.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marco Jansen began bowling with the new white Kookaburra.
There was no soft start.
Bhuvi found late away-swing, but Deva leaned forward and drove through the covers.
In the next net, Warner pulled Jansen's short balls into the netting.
Kane Williamson watched from behind the net.
After thirty minutes, Deva stepped out and walked toward the bowling area, where Muralitharan was watching the fast bowlers.
"How is the young man looking?" Deva asked.
Murali pointed toward the far net.
"He is bowling fast. The gun just showed 152 kmph. But his length is inconsistent. He is losing his release point and bowling half-volleys and full tosses."
Deva looked across.
Umran Malik stood at the top of his mark.
The young fast bowler from Jammu ran in and released the ball with raw pace.
It flew wide down the leg side and hit the net.
Umran cursed under his breath.
Deva handed his bottle to Rahul, removed his batting pads, and walked toward the net.
Umran looked up.
"Skip. Sorry, I'm just trying to find my rhythm."
"You don't need to apologize for raw pace, Umran," Deva said. "Pace is a gift. But pace without discipline is just a very fast boundary."
A golden interface appeared in the corner of Deva's vision.
The Expert Teaching Skill activated.
TARGET ANALYSIS: KINETIC CHAIN EFFICIENCY - 78%
BIOMECHANICAL FLAW: WRIST COLLAPSE AT RELEASE POINT. SEAM PRESENTATION IS ANGLED 15 DEGREES OFF-AXIS, RESULTING IN LOSS OF VERTICAL BOUNCE AND DIRECTIONAL CONTROL.
CORRECTION REQUIRED: LOCK THE WRIST. DELAY THE FINGER-ROLL BY 0.2 SECONDS.
Deva focused on Umran's wrist.
"Hold your hand out," he instructed.
Umran raised his bowling hand.
Deva placed his hand over Umran's and adjusted his wrist.
"You are throwing your shoulder into the delivery perfectly. But right as you release the ball, you are letting your wrist flop forward to generate extra speed. You are killing your own bounce."
He pressed a finger against Umran's wrist.
"Do not break this lock. Imagine your forearm and the back of your hand are one piece of iron. You do not snap the wrist. You pull straight down through the seam with your fingers. Lock the iron. Pull the seam. Try it."
Umran looked at his wrist.
"Lock the iron. Pull the seam," he repeated.
He walked back to his mark.
He sprinted in.
The run-up remained aggressive, but this time his wrist stayed firm through release.
His fingers pulled down the seam.
The speed gun flashed.
153.2 kmph.
But the speed wasn't the main difference.
The ball pitched on a hard length around off-stump. The seam struck the surface upright, and the ball climbed sharply off the deck.
It passed above the imaginary batsman's helmet before hitting the back of the net.
Umran stared down the pitch.
Deva gave him a nod.
"That is your length, Umran. Do it again."
Umran grinned and jogged back to his mark.
The three-hour training session slowly ended.
Although most of the stadium remained closed for security, the management had allowed around five hundred registered supporters into a section of the South Stand.
The fans wore orange jerseys and waved flags.
Their chant echoed around the stadium.
"DE-VA! DE-VA! DE-VA!"
Deva wiped his face with a towel and looked toward the stands.
He turned toward the crowd.
Warner and Chahal followed.
At the boundary rope, Deva began signing jerseys, bats, and notebooks.
"Captain! Welcome back!" a young fan shouted.
"Good to be back," Deva smiled, signing his bat.
A few yards down the line, a man in a button-down shirt pushed toward the rope holding a tablet.
"Anna!" he called. "I have fifty thousand rupees saved up. Should I buy Nexus tech stocks now, or hold for the Q2 earnings report?"
Deva paused.
He gave the man a dry look.
"I am standing on a grass field wearing spiked shoes," Deva replied. "I am a cricketer, not your financial advisor. Mutual funds are subject to market risks. Please read all scheme-related documents carefully before investing."
The crowd laughed.
"Just give me a hint, Anna!" the man pleaded.
"Buy low, sell high," Deva said with a smirk before moving along.
Chahal stood nearby signing hats and joking with the fans.
Then a voice shouted from the crowd.
"EE SALA CUP NAMDE, SID!"
Deva stopped.
Among the Sunrisers supporters stood a teenager wearing an RCB jersey.
Deva walked toward him.
"You are a very brave man, wearing that jersey in this stadium," Deva said.
The surrounding fans laughed.
The teenager grinned.
"Virat Kohli is bringing the trophy home this year, Sid bhai!"
"Is he?" Deva asked. "Because I seem to remember you guys saying the same thing in for last how many was it, thirteen season."
He paused.
"How did that 2016 season go for you?"
The SRH fans erupted.
The teenager covered his face, laughing.
"That was a fluke! You got lucky!"
"Luck is just mathematics executed perfectly," Deva replied, signing the kid's notebook anyway. "Tell Virat I said hello when you see him."
Deva walked further down the line, signing autographs and taking selfies.
The floodlights illuminated the stadium.
The 2022 season had arrived.