The jump from the overcast chill of London in June to the humidity of the Caribbean in July hit the squad hard.
After the well earned rest the squad flew across the Atlantic to the West Indies for a multi-format tour that would start their build-up to the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup.
The tour opened with Tests.
The pitches were no longer the quick, bouncy tracks of the 1980s. They were slow and low. They asked for patience and a tight technique.
Siddanth Deva took India into the two-match Test series with a clear plan. He asked his fast bowlers for discipline. He told Mohammed Siraj and Jaydev Unadkat to hit the deck hard and look for reverse swing as the dry pitches scuffed up the Dukes ball. Yashasvi Jaiswal made a patient debut hundred. Virat Kohli played a long innings. Both handled the slow pitches.
India took the series 1–0. The second Test in Port of Spain was drawn after rain washed out the last day on a flat pitch.
The tour then moved to the three-match ODI series.
The World Cup was months away. This was the real work. The matches were in Bridgetown and Tarouba. Deva rotated the squad, rested seniors, and gave the bench a look.
He did not just want wins. He wanted the side to play the right cricket when the game tightened.
In the third ODI the series was 1–1. The top order found its rhythm. Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan came down the track to the spinners and drove the quicks through the covers. Deva walked in at number four, left the risky shots, found the gaps, and ran hard.
The bowlers then tied down the chase with heavy lengths and changes of pace. India won by 200 runs and took the series 2–1.
The last leg was the five-match T20I series. That drew the most eyes.
The series moved from Trinidad to Guyana, then to Lauderhill, Florida, for the last two games.
The heat sat heavy over Central Broward Regional Park Stadium.
India already led 3–1.
For the last game West Indies won the toss and chose to bat.
The pitch was slow and held up. It was hard to hit through the line. Deva threw the new ball to his debutant.
Arjun stood at the top of his mark. Kyle Mayers was facing up.
Arjun ran in. His first few balls were a touch wide of off stump. Mayers threw his hands at one and sliced it past point for four.
Deva, at mid-off, jogged across.
He did not raise his voice. He talked cricket.
"Breathe, Arjun. You are trying too hard to bowl quick. The pitch is holding up. You don't need to blast him out. Look at his stance. He is clearing his front leg, waiting for the wide one so he can free his arms."
Deva pointed at the popping crease.
"Bring your line in. Attack middle and leg. Pitch it up and let it swing back into his pads. If he tries to hit across the line, the lack of pace off the pitch will do the rest. Trust your swing."
Arjun nodded, walked back, and ran in again. This time the wrist was right. He pitched it full, angling into middle. The white ball swung late and nipped back into the left-hander.
Mayers, cramped and late, tried to heave over the leg side.
He missed.
The ball hit the front pad.
"HOWZAT!"
The finger went up. Plumb lbw.
Arjun pumped his fists. First international wicket.
Deva came in from mid-off and ruffled his hair as the rest of the side piled in. The change of line had done the job.
Arjun bowled a tight four-over spell. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel then strangled the rest of the batting. West Indies were kept to a modest total.
The chase was clean. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal opened and knocked it off. Both made fifties.
India won by 9 wickets and took the series 4–1.
The tour was done.
---
A younger Indian side, led by a fit Jasprit Bumrah, flew from the USA to Ireland for a three-match T20I series. The senior core flew home.
Deva did not rest.
The 2023 ICC ODI World Cup was less than two months away, on home pitches. The country was already living with it.
Two days after landing, Deva walked into the BCCI boardroom in Mumbai.
The table was ringed by the National Selection Committee and head coach Rahul Dravid.
This was the meeting to pick the 15-man squad.
Deva sat opposite the chief selector and waited.
"Gentlemen," the chief selector said, looking down at his sheets. "We are here to finalise the fifteen names. The core picks itself. Siddanth as captain, Virat as vice-captain. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer to complete the top order. Suryakumar Yadav for the middle order. Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel as the all-rounders. The pace attack will be Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj. Kuldeep Yadav will be the wrist-spinner."
He looked around the room. "That is thirteen names. We are agreed on these."
Dravid nodded. Deva stayed quiet. He knew the argument that was coming.
"That leaves two spots. A designated wicket-keeper, and one more batsman."
A selector from the North Zone leaned in.
"The committee believes KL Rahul should keep. If KL takes the gloves, we can play an extra batsman or an extra all-rounder in the eleven. It gives us balance. KL has kept in ODIs before, and his numbers at number five are strong."
The room murmured. It was a familiar idea: a batsman who could keep, stretching the batting.
Deva looked at the selector.
"No."
The chief selector frowned. "Siddanth, we have to look at the balance of the eleven. Having KL keep gives us—"
"It gives us a weak link behind the stumps."
He leaned forward.
"We are playing a fifty-over World Cup in India. The pitches in Chennai, Lucknow, and Delhi will turn in the middle overs. The ball will grip, bounce, and take the edge. You want to give the gloves to a part-time keeper against Jadeja and Kuldeep in the afternoon heat."
He shook his head.
"If KL drops a catch or misses a stumping off a turning ball in a semi-final because keeping is not his first skill, we lose the match. I will not trade our fielding for extra batting that looks good on paper."
"KL has done the job before."
"And I want KL in this squad. He is a fine batsman. But he comes in as a batsman. Emergency keeper. Nothing more."
He sat back.
"And there is the other problem. Knockout cricket. When the required rate climbs in a big chase, KL can get stuck. If we ask him to keep for fifty overs in this heat, then walk in at number five and chase eighty off ten, we are asking too much of him."
"Then who is your first-choice keeper?"
"Sanju Samson."
The room went quiet.
"Sanju?" the East Zone selector said. "His ODI numbers are not as consistent as KL's. He plays his shots and sometimes gets out when the innings needs an anchor."
"Sanju is the best natural wicket-keeper in the country right now. His work against spin is clean. He watches the ball into his hands. And look at how he bats."
He leaned in.
"Sanju has a high elbow. He plays straight. When the spinners bowl tight in the middle overs, he does not panic. He uses his feet, comes down the track, and drives into the gaps to turn the strike over. He does not let the bowlers settle."
He looked at the chief selector.
"And you talk about big games? Look at the T20 World Cup final at the MCG last year. Against Pakistan, with the game on the line, he did not throw it away. He played proper cricket shots and hit the winning runs. He can handle that stage. Sanju keeps. KL is the spare batsman. That is the squad."
Rahul Dravid nodded. He understood. Deva was picking on roles and temperament, not on public noise.
The chief selector looked down at his paper and picked up his pen. He knew better than to fight this captain once the call was made.
"Very well. Sanju Samson keeps. KL Rahul completes the fifteen."
He read the list.
"The 15-man squad for the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup:
Siddanth Deva (Captain)
Virat Kohli (Vice-Captain)
Rohit Sharma
Shubman Gill
Shreyas Iyer
Suryakumar Yadav
Sanju Samson (Wicket-Keeper)
KL Rahul
Hardik Pandya
Ravindra Jadeja
Axar Patel
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Siraj
Kuldeep Yadav."
Deva nodded once. The fifteen was set.
---
September brought the Asia Cup.
The tournament was split between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Deva sat it out. The World Cup was a six-week stretch. He needed his body right for it.
He handed the captaincy to Virat Kohli.
He spent the weeks at his farmhouse in Shamshabad, keeping his fitness in his own nets and gym, and watching the tournament on television.
Kohli led with his usual fire. India played bold cricket. In the Super 4s, Virat made a hundred against Pakistan, taking on the quicks with cover drives and flicks through midwicket.
India reached the final in Colombo and rolled Sri Lanka. Mohammed Siraj took six with the new ball and swung it enough to bowl Sri Lanka out for 50. India knocked off the target in six overs and lifted the cup.
The win came with a cost.
Late in the tournament, Axar Patel tore his left quadricep. The scans were clear. He would not be fit in time. He was ruled out of the World Cup.
Deva got the news in his study and got Rahul Dravid and the chief selector on a call.
"We need a replacement," Dravid said. "Someone who can bowl ten overs of tight spin and bat at eight."
"We are playing in India," Deva said. "The pitches will wear as the tournament goes on. We need a bowler who can use the rough, change his angle from the crease, and out-think good batsmen. We need overs and nous."
"Washington Sundar?"
"No. Call Chennai. Get Ash on the phone. Tell him to pack his bags."
Dravid smiled. It was the right call. Ashwin came into the squad in Axar's place.
After the Asia Cup, Australia flew in for a three-match ODI series. It was the last hard cricket before the World Cup.
Deva came back to lead.
Match 1 (Mohali): Deva looked fresh. Cummins and Starc tried him with the short ball. He rocked back and pulled in front of square. He and Suryakumar Yadav saw India home by 5 wickets. Deva finished unbeaten on a fifty.
Match 2 (Indore): The pitch was a batting track. India batted first. Shubman Gill made a hundred. Deva came in, picked Zampa's length, and came down the track to hit him straight for six. He made 85. India posted 399. The spinners then choked the chase. India won by 99 runs and sealed the series.
Match 3 (Rajkot): With the series gone, Australia came hard. Maxwell played a counter-attacking knock. India's top order slipped in the chase against Starc. Deva fought it out, leaving well and trying to turn the strike over, but the target was too big. Australia won by 66 runs.
Deva walked off without fuss. He knew what the loss was.
It kept the dressing room honest. Australia would still punish loose cricket. The series finished 2–1 to India.
The warm-ups were over. The World Cup was next.
---
Late September.
The monsoon had cleared. The sky over Hyderabad was a clean blue. The air around the Shamshabad estate was warm, with the smell of the mango orchards.
In the bedroom of the farmhouse, Siddanth was packing.
His two dark blue Nike kitbags lay open on the rug. He packed with care. He checked the grips on his bats. He packed his white pads, running a hand over the scuffed leather — hours of net work sitting in the wear. He folded the dark blue India jerseys, the orange BCCI crest against the fabric.
He was already thinking cricket. Chennai's turn. The dew in Dharamshala. The lengths to bowl at the English openers in Lucknow.
He was packing to lead India at a home World Cup.
The door creaked open.
Deva looked up.
In the doorway were his five-year-old twins.
Rishi wore a dark blue polo and held a crumpled sheet of paper. Aadhya wore a yellow sundress, hair in two pigtails, markers in her fist.
The captain dropped away.
"Hey, monsters," Deva said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "What do you have there?"
Aadhya ran, threw herself at his legs, and shoved the paper into his face.
"We made you a card! For the matches!"
Deva took it.
It was two drawings on one page.
Aadhya's half was all colour. A stick figure in red and blue, holding a bat far too big for it, ringed with orange and yellow scribbles. The ball had dark lines around it, as if it had been hit a long way.
"That is me," Aadhya said. "And that is you. We are smashing the ball into space. The other team is crying."
"I see," Deva said. "Good intent, Aadhya. Hit through the line."
He looked at Rishi's half.
Rishi had drawn a cricket ground from above. He had used a ruler for the pitch. He had drawn the thirty-yard circle and the boundary rope.
Inside the circle he had put small blue dots for the fielders.
Rishi stood by his father's knee and pointed at the dots.
"I drew the fielders inside the circle for the powerplay, Nana. Because you told me the rules. You can only have two fielders outside the circle for the first ten overs. It is a very strict rule."
"It is a very strict rule, buddy. Your field is good. You covered the square boundaries."
"I also drew the big shiny cup in the middle," Aadhya said, pointing at a blob of gold glitter near the top.
"Thank you, both of you," Deva said. He set the card on the bedside table.
He scooped both of them up, pulled them into his chest, and fell back onto the bed with them.
The twins shrieked as they tumbled down.
Deva wrapped them up. He kissed the top of Rishi's head, then playfully bit Aadhya's cheek. She giggled and squirmed.
"Nana! Stop!" she laughed, pushing at his shoulders.
"I'm not stopping," Deva said, nuzzling his beard into Rishi's neck until the boy laughed. "I'm packing hugs for the next two months. You're trapped."
Krithika stood in the doorway in a cotton saree, watching.
She walked in as Deva sat up and let the twins scramble off.
"Alright, you two. Nana needs to finish packing. Go downstairs and ask Thatha to read you a story."
Aadhya threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Bye, Nana! Smash them into space!"
"I will."
Rishi offered a small wave. "Play well, Nana. Protect your wicket."
"Always, Rishi."
The twins ran out. Their footsteps faded down the hall.
The bedroom went quiet. Krithika walked to the bed and ran her fingers through his hair.
Deva caught her wrist and kissed her palm.
"Are you ready?"
"I'm ready. The squad is right. The work is done. We know the pitches. We know the opposition."
She leaned down and kissed him, then pulled back.
"Then go lead them, Sid. Make sure the cup stays home."
Deva stood, took the straps of his kitbags, and slung them over his shoulders.
He walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and through the front doors. He stepped into the waiting Range Rover. The door shut.
Giving a final goodbye to his family.
The car pulled away through the gates.
The World Cup was waiting. Siddanth Deva was on his way.