The tension that had gripped the subcontinent for four hours finally broke. While the streets of Mumbai and Delhi filled with fireworks and celebrations, a living room in the Gulberg neighbourhood of Lahore told a different story.
The air conditioning hummed but did little for Uncle Tariq's rising blood pressure. The coffee table was littered with cold samosas, untouched jalebis and a half-spilled cup of milky chai near a remote that had been slammed down hard.
On the 75-inch television the post-match graphic from New York stayed on screen: Pakistan 113 for 7.
Uncle Tariq, a stout man in his late fifties in a white shalwar kameez, paced the Persian rug, hands on his head, face flushed.
"One hundred and thirteen!" he roared, pointing at the screen. "One hundred and thirteen runs in twenty overs! My neighbourhood tape-ball team scores more in the dark! What were they doing out there? Were they batting or digging a well?"
His twenty-five-year-old nephew Salman sat on the edge of the sofa, then stood up, hands on his hips, elbows out, staring at the screen with the familiar expression of Pakistani cricket disappointment. He did not blink.
"Uncle, please sit down," Salman muttered, eyes still on the replay of Jasprit Bumrah hitting the stumps. "It was a drop-in pitch. The ball was stopping. It was hard to hit through the line."
"Do not talk to me about the pitch!" Tariq shouted, waving his arms. "The pitch was the same for India! Did Siddanth Deva complain? No! He stood there and hit boundaries! Do you know why? Because he does not eat three plates of mutton biryani before a match!"
He marched to the television and pointed at the Indian players shaking hands.
"Look at their fitness! Look at Virat Kohli running between the wickets! He runs like a cheetah! Our boys run like they are carrying sacks of cement! Intent! Where is the intent? They just tapped the ball to the fielders and waited for the match to end!"
On the floor, Tariq's teenage son Ali sat cross-legged with a laptop, a spiral notebook on his knees and a calculator in his hand. He punched numbers, brow furrowed.
"Okay, Abbu, listen," Ali said quickly, not looking up. "I have done the calculations. It is not over. We can still make the Super 8s."
Tariq stopped pacing and looked at his son. "Ali, beta… we just scored 113 runs. We are finished."
"No, listen!" Ali insisted, flipping a page. "If Ireland beats the United States by fourteen runs, and then it rains in Florida on Tuesday so the match is washed out, and then we beat Canada in 15.2 overs… our net run rate will go to +0.05. We will qualify."
Salman, still in the hands-on-hips stance, turned his head. "Ali. You are relying on a thunderstorm in Florida and the Irish cricket team to save our World Cup. Do you hear yourself?"
"It is Kudrat ka Nizam, bhai!" Ali said, tapping the calculator. "It has happened before! In 2022 the Netherlands beat South Africa and we went to the final! The numbers work! The rain will come!"
"Put the calculator away!" Tariq shouted, rubbing his temples. "The universe is not going to save us from Arjun Tendulkar bowling late inswingers! A twenty-four-year-old made our top order look like they were holding toothpicks! It is a complete disaster!"
---
The living-room scene mirrored the chaos on national television.
The broadcast switched to a popular prime-time Pakistani sports show, Cricket Bawaal. The studio lights were bright. The anchor looked stressed as he tried to keep order.
Three former Pakistan fast bowlers sat behind the desk.
"Welcome back to the post-match analysis," the anchor said. "A disappointing night for Pakistan in New York. Shoaib bhai, what went wrong?"
Shoaib did not wait for the question to finish. He slammed his hand on the desk.
"Phainta laga diya! Phainta laga diya unhone humein!" he roared. "What are we doing? What is this batting? I am sitting here pulling my hair out! Where is the aggression? Where is the passion?"
"Shoaib bhai, the pitch was two-paced…" the anchor tried.
"Pitch? Don't give me excuses about the pitch!" Shoaib cut in. "I used to bowl on concrete! I used to bowl on dead soil! It is about the mindset! There is a lack of protein in this team! Protein ki kami hai inme! They look weak! Look at the Indian fast bowlers! Look at Jasprit Bumrah! He hits the deck, he bowls a yorker, he does not smile, he just takes the wicket and walks back!"
Kamran, a former wicketkeeper, nodded.
"Shoaib bhai is right," he said. "We are playing cricket from the 1990s. We are playing to survive. Look at the Indian captain. Siddanth Deva is playing chess while our boys are playing Ludo."
The screen behind them showed Deva setting the field in the second innings.
"Look at his captaincy," Kamran said. "He brought a short mid-wicket inside the circle. He pushed the square leg back. He knew where our batsmen were going to hit before the bowler started his run-up. He set a trap and our boys walked into it. Siddanth Deva did not just beat us; he took the initiative away from our batting order."
The third panelist, a former swing bowler, shook his head.
"And we have to talk about Arjun Tendulkar," he said. "To bowl with that much control in an India-Pakistan match is special. His wrist position is clean. He pitches the ball up and it swings late. Our top order had no idea which way it was moving."
"They have built a strong side," Shoaib said, leaning back. "India have a complete team. They have the captain leading them and they will be hard to stop in this tournament."
Back in Lahore, Uncle Tariq nodded and sat down with a sigh, picking up a cold samosa.
"He is right," he muttered. "They are playing chess. Ali, close the laptop. Kudrat ka Nizam cannot help us against Siddanth Deva."
"But Abbu, if Florida floods…" Ali whispered.
"CLOSE THE LAPTOP!"
---
While the television panels talked about protein and intent, social media filled with memes, numbers and banter.
@CricketNerd_IND: 113 for 7 in 20 overs. Deva told them to chase it and they forgot how to hold a bat. The chokehold from Bumrah and Arjun. 🇮🇳
@LahoriBoy_99: Selling my television, my sofa and my router. Never watching this sport again. See you all on Tuesday for the Canada match. 🇵🇰
@Virat_Army_Delhi: Did you see the field placements from Siddanth Deva? He moved the fielders and dared them to hit over the top, and they kept getting caught in the infield. Masterclass.
@MemeCentral_Desi: Pakistan fans looking at their calculators trying to figure out Super 8 qualification: "If the sun rises in the west and Ireland scores 400, we are through!"
@PindiExpressFan: Respect to the Indian bowling attack. Bumrah is tough to face, but Arjun Tendulkar swinging the new ball under that pressure? The kid has ice in his veins. We were outclassed.
@BlueBleeders: Deva and Kohli batting together in New York. They realised the pitch was slow, rotated the strike, and then Deva accelerated at the death. Clean execution.
@Sonia_Styles12: The way Deva did not celebrate after the match. He just shook hands like he had finished a net session. The calm is something else.
@Babar_Azam_Defense: The pitch was two-paced. You cannot blame our batsmen when the ball is stopping in the surface. It was a toss to lose.
@Rational_Cricket_Fan: Blaming the pitch is funny when Siddanth Deva batted on the same pitch and scored at a high strike rate. India adapted. Pakistan panicked. End of story.
@DesiSarcasm: BCCI: "Please make the match entertaining." Indian bowlers: "We will keep them quiet for 20 overs."
@UK_Cricket_Pundit: A clear tactical performance from Siddanth Deva. He read the conditions, sent the message through Kohli to accelerate, and then controlled the chase with aggressive fields. Strong leadership.
@TiredFastBowler: Watching Jasprit Bumrah bowl a 145 kmph yorker that dips on a slow drop-in pitch is pure skill. He is in a different class.
@Karachi_Kings_Fan: Someone check the fitness of the Indian players. How are they still running hard in the 18th over? Our boys are tired after a single. Shoaib bhai was right about the protein.
@Sanju_Fan_Club_Kerala: Sanju Samson setting the platform. Solid partnership on a difficult pitch. He blunted the new ball so the others could score. Good maturity.
@Gamer_Boy007: Siddanth Deva setting the field is like watching someone who already knows the next move. He puts the fielder exactly where the ball is going.
@HistoryBuff_IN: The dominance continues. Whether Ahmedabad, Melbourne or New York, the result is the same.
@MemeKing_Hyd: Pakistan batsmen looking for a gap. Siddanth Deva moving a fielder into the gap. "Not today."
@TeluguBidda_99: 113 runs. Hyderabad is celebrating. We are into the Super 8s. Bring on the West Indies.
@CricCrazyJohn: 113 for 7 in 20 overs is a heavy defeat. The pressure of playing India on that pitch was too much. The gap was clear.
@The_Master_Architect: The trap was set. The result followed. Next stop, the Super 8s.
---
The Pakistan match had barely ended when the schedule moved on. India returned to the same Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, this time to face the co-hosts, the United States.
The USA side had been the surprise package of the tournament, winning with discipline and spirit. Siddanth Deva, however, dealt in planning rather than sentiment.
In the team hotel tactical room, Deva sat with head coach Rahul Dravid. A digital board showed the USA squad.
"We have played two demanding matches on a hard pitch, Rahul bhai," Deva said. "The Super 8s in the Caribbean will be tough. The travel is heavy. We need to manage the load on the core players."
Dravid nodded. "I agree, Sid. The USA boys are playing well, but we have depth. Who are you thinking of resting?"
Deva highlighted three names.
"Virat. Jassi. Jaddu." He was resting the senior batsman, the lead strike bowler and the main all-rounder.
"That is a big rotation," Dravid said, though he did not disagree. "Are you playing?"
"I will play," Deva said. "I will bat in the middle if needed. This is the chance to test the reserves."
Dravid smiled. "You are trusting the younger players without the usual safety net."
"The safety net has to come off at some point," Deva replied. "Let them feel the pressure of the jersey."
The next morning the stadium was bright. The crowd mixed Indian expats with local American fans.
Deva walked out for the toss. Monank Patel, the USA captain, stood opposite him. The USA won the toss and chose to bat.
When the Indian XI was announced, Ravi Shastri and Ian Bishop noted the changes.
"A clear statement from Siddanth Deva," Bishop said. "He has rested Kohli, Bumrah and Jadeja. He is saying the bench is strong enough. It is a show of faith in young players."
The USA innings showed grit. They lacked the power of the top sides but played with discipline. Steven Taylor and Aaron Jones handled the early swing, found the gaps and ran hard. They used the slow outfield and punished the occasional loose ball.
Deva set the field quietly and let the younger bowlers find their lengths. When the USA middle order tried to push, he brought on Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner used flight and turn to break the momentum.
The USA batted the full 20 overs and finished at 110 for 8. On the New York pitch it was a total that needed respect.
India's chase began under pressure. Saurabh Netravalkar, the left-arm seamer, bowled with control and extracted bounce. In the second over he shaped one away late and took Sanju Samson's outside edge. India were 10 for 1.
A few overs later Ali Khan trapped Suryakumar Yadav LBW. India were 39 for 2. The American crowd sensed a chance.
Yashasvi Jaiswal absorbed the early pressure, respected Netravalkar's spell, then used his feet as the ball got older. He stepped down and cleared the long-off boundary against the spinners.
Shivam Dube, selected for his power against spin, did not wait. He used his reach and hit two sixes over mid-wicket, lifting the required rate.
Deva sat in the dugout with his pads on, watching the younger players finish the job. He did not need to bat.
Jaiswal and Dube completed the chase. Jaiswal hit the winning boundary, a clean cover drive.
India finished at 112 for 3 and won by seven wickets with overs to spare.
They had handled the pitch, rested senior players and still secured the points. With the win India confirmed their place in the Super 8s. Deva shook hands with the USA players and praised their discipline. The hosts had earned respect.
---
The final group match required a trip south to Lauderhill, Florida, to face Canada.
The weather had other ideas. A tropical storm sat over the region for three days. Heavy rain flooded the streets and the Central Broward Regional Park stadium. The outfield was waterlogged, puddles covered the thirty-yard circle, and the drainage could not cope.
On match morning the umpires walked the ground under umbrellas. Their shoes sank into the soft turf. The decision was clear.
"The match between India and Canada has been abandoned without a ball bowled," the broadcast announced. "The outfield is waterlogged. Player safety comes first. Both teams share the points."
In the Indian team hotel in Miami the mood mixed mild frustration with relief. The players had missed a final practice game, but the rest after the New York matches was welcome.
Deva stood by the lounge windows with a black coffee, watching the rain. The group stage was over. The drop-in pitches of the United States were behind them.
That evening the Indian Cricket team took off under the rain-soaked Florida sky, climbed through the cloud and headed south toward the West Indies. The group stage was finished. The Super 8s awaited.