The peace of Tirupati and the quiet evenings on the terrace in Hyderabad were now distant memories. The white flannels were back on. The red ball was polished. The enemy was familiar.
It was October 2010—the Australia Tour of India.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
This wasn't just another series. Australia, even in transition, was a beast. Led by Ricky Ponting, they had Shane Watson in ominous form, Mitchell Johnson steaming in, and a point to prove. India was the Number 1 Test side. This was a battle for the crown.
1st Test
Venue: PCA Stadium, Mohali.
Date: October 1-5, 2010.
1st Innings
Ricky Ponting won the toss and batted. The Mohali pitch had a slight green tinge, but it was a good batting deck.
Shane Watson was brutal. He smashed a century (126). Ponting scored 71.
The Indian bowlers toiled. Zaheer Khan grabbed 5 wickets, but Australia posted a formidable 428.
Siddanth Deva had a mixed day with the ball. He bowled tight lines but struggled for swing. He picked up 2 wickets—removing Michael Clarke with a beauty that nipped back and cleaning up the tailender Doug Bollinger.
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India's reply was shaky. Gautam Gambhir fell early.
Siddanth Deva stood tall.
He batted with a mix of aggression and caution. He left the balls outside off from Ben Hilfenhaus and pulled Mitchell Johnson when he banged it in short.
He built a partnership with Rahul Dravid.
Deva reached a classy 71 off 120 balls before a lapse in concentration. He tried to drive Nathan Hauritz against the spin and was caught at cover.
Sachin Tendulkar (98) and Suresh Raina (86) took India close, but Johnson ran through the tail.
India All Out: 405.
Deficit: 23 runs.
3rd Innings
Australia came out to set a target. They wanted 300+.
But the Indian bowlers found their rhythm. Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan reversed the ball beautifully.
Deva played the perfect supporting role. He bowled a relentless spell of 8 overs for just 15 runs, picking up 2 wickets—including the dangerous Shane Watson, trapping him LBW with a cutter.
Australia crumbled to 192 All Out.
4th Innings
Target: 216 Runs.
It sounds easy. On a Day 5 pitch in India? It's a minefield.
India started terribly. Gambhir went for a duck. Dravid followed. Sehwag edged one.
India was 48/3.
Siddanth Deva was standing at non strikers end watching the top order crumble.
He was joined by VVS Laxman.
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Deva decided that defense would lead to death.
He attacked Doug Bollinger.
Cover drive for four.
Straight drive for four.
He raced to 48 runs. He looked set to win it single-handedly.
But then, disaster. A mix-up with VVS. Led to his wicket.
Run Out (Deva) 48.
India: 92/4.
The dressing room was silent. Deva threw his gloves in anger.
But VVS Laxman played one of the greatest innings of all time. Along with Ishant Sharma, he guided India home in a nail-biting finish.
India Won by 1 Wicket.
Deva ran onto the field to hug VVS. They had escaped jail.
Series Lead: 1-0.
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2nd Test
Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.
Date: October 9-13, 2010.
The close shave in Mohali woke the beast.
Ponting was furious. He wanted revenge.
He won the toss again and batted.
1st Innings
Australia batted like men possessed. Marcus North scored a century (128). Ponting scored 77.
They posted a massive 478.
History says you don't lose from 478.
Deva toiled for 25 overs. The pitch was flat. He managed only 1 wicket (Tim Paine).
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India needed a miracle to stay in the game.
Sehwag gave a blitzkrieg start (30 off 18) and got out.
Siddanth Deva was joined by Murali Vijay. They added 50.
Then Sachin Tendulkar walked in.
What followed was a symphony.
Sachin was in the form of his life (2010 was his golden twilight).
Deva was in form.
They dismantled the Australian attack.
Mitchell Johnson tried to bounce Deva. Deva hooked him into the Cubbon Park stands.
Nathan Hauritz tried to spin it. Deva stepped out and lofted him over long-on.
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Deva reached his Century off 140 balls.
He didn't stop.
He and Sachin put on a 300-run partnership.
Sachin scored a double century (214).
Deva scored a magnificent 159 off 220 balls (20 Fours, 2 Sixes).
He was finally dismissed by Peter George, chopping onto his stumps.
India posted 495.
Lead: 17 Runs.
3rd Innings
Day 4 afternoon. The ball was scuffed. The pitch was dusty.
Zaheer Khan and Siddanth Deva hunted in a pack.
Deva found reverse swing at 145kph.
He cleaned up Simon Katich.
He trapped Michael Clarke LBW with a ball that jagged back sharply.
He removed Mitchell Johnson with a yorker.
Deva Figures: 3 wickets for 40 runs.
Australia collapsed for 223.
4th Innings
Target: 207 Runs.
One session and a bit to play.
India didn't play for a draw. They went for the kill.
Siddanth Deva opened with Sehwag.
Sehwag fell early.
But Deva was in T20 mode.
He realized that if he attacked, Australia would panic.
He smashed Hilfenhaus for three boundaries in an over.
He reached his 50 off 40 balls.
He scored a blistering 76 off 65 balls before trying to finish it with a six and getting caught at deep mid-wicket.
He walked off to a standing ovation.
Sachin Tendulkar (53*) and Rahul Dravid (21*) finished the job.
India Won by 7 Wickets.
Score: 207/3.
Series Result: India wins 2-0.
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Ravi Shastri: "A comprehensive 2-0 whitewash of Australia. India retains the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and solidifies their Number 1 ranking."
Player of the Series: Sachin Tendulkar (For his double ton and consistency).
Deva Stats: 354 Runs. 8 Wickets.
As the team lifted the trophy, Ponting looked defeated. The era of Australian dominance was truly over.
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The ODI Series
The Tests were high drama. The ODIs were... wet.
1st ODI: Kochi.
Result: Abandoned without a ball bowled.
Heavy monsoon rains lashed Kerala. The teams spent the day playing table tennis in the hotel.
2nd ODI
With the series shortened, Dhoni decided to test the bench strength.
Team News: Siddanth Deva was rested. Deva was rested to manage the workload before the New Zealand and South Africa series.
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Virat Kohli stood up. He scored a magnificent 118, chasing down Australia's 289 with ease.
Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina finished it off.
India Won by 5 Wickets.
Deva watched from the dugout, applauding Chiku's masterclass. "He's catching up," Deva muttered with a smile. The competition was good.
3rd ODI: Goa.
Result: Abandoned without a ball bowled.
More rain.
Series Result: India wins 1-0.
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The Australian series had ended with a damp squib in Goa, but inside the office of Nexus(Deva's Company), the atmosphere was electric. The silence of the office was replaced by the click of Arjun's mechanical keyboard.
Deva walked in, and he looked at the wall of monitors. It looked less like a gaming setup and more like NASA mission control.
Arjun didn't even turn around. He was staring at a line graph that was spiking vertically.
"Welcome back, Champion," Arjun said, tapping a key. "Look at this."
He spun his chair around and pulled up the Nexus Interactive Q3 Report.
"While you were busy blocking Mitchell Johnson," Arjun grinned, "we officially conquered the app store. Here is the breakdown."
He pointed to the main screen, which was split into four quadrants.
1. THE CASH COW: 'Sugar Saga' (Project Sugar)
Status: Global Launch (iOS & Web).
Metrics:
Daily Active Users (DAU): 4.2 Million.
Retention Day-30: 38% (Industry standard is 15%).
Revenue: $150,000 per day (approx. ₹67 Lakhs/day).
Arjun's Note: "The 'Freemium' model is a goldmine, Sid. People are literally paying for extra lives just to crush more red jellybeans. The 'Sweet!' voiceover you insisted on? Psychologists say it triggers a dopamine hit. We are printing money."
2. THE DISRUPTOR: 'FlashMsg' (The WhatsApp Killer)
Status: Open Beta (Android & Symbian).
Metrics:
Downloads: 850,000.
Messages Sent: 12 Million/day.
Key Feature Success: The proprietary 'Zero-Lag Image Compression' algorithm.
Arjun's Note: "This is growing faster than we can add servers. People are dumping SMS. The fact that they can send a photo on a 2G connection in under 3 seconds is killing BlackBerry Messenger. We need to buy more server space in Singapore immediately."
3. THE TRENDSETTER: 'Vibe' (The Instagram Rival)
Status: Soft Launch (iOS Exclusive - released 48 hours ago).
Metrics:
Downloads: 10,000.
Photos Uploaded: 50,000.
Arjun's Note: "You were right about the vanity metrics. We launched with just 5 filters—'Sepia', 'Noir', 'Polaroid', 'Vivid', and 'Vintage'. People are obsessed. They are taking photos of their lunch, their cats, their feet... it doesn't matter. They just want to make it look 'artsy'. We own the 'square photo' aesthetic now."
4. THE MONSTER: 'Battlegrounds' (Project PUBG)
Status: Closed Alpha (PC Only).
Metrics:
Concurrent Players: 500 (Internal Testers + Friends).
Stability: 75%.
Arjun's Note: "This is the tricky one. The gameplay loop is addictive—Karthik played for 14 hours straight yesterday and forgot to eat. But the 'Blue Zone' logic is causing some lag when the circle shrinks too fast. We need to optimize the netcode. And add new maps and skins. But Sid... when this drops? It's going to change gaming forever."
Deva walked up to the screen, tracing the revenue line for Sugar Saga.
"150k dollars a day," Deva whispered. "That's more than my IPL contract."
"Way more," Arjun laughed.
Deva sat down, picking up the controller for the Battlegrounds test build.
"Reinvest 80% of the Sugar Saga profits," Deva commanded.
"Into what?"
"Into FlashMsg servers. I want 99.99% uptime. If a message fails, people go back to SMS. We can't let that happen. And hire a dedicated team for Vibe. Add 'Stories'—photos that disappear after 24 hours. Do it before anyone else thinks of it."
Arjun's jaw dropped. "Disappearing photos? What's the point?"
"Privacy," Deva smiled, the 'Silicon Mind' humming. "People post perfect photos on the feed. They post messy, real life on Stories. It lowers the barrier to entry. Just trust me."
Arjun shook his head in disbelief, typing furiously. "Stories. Got it. You're terrifying, you know that?"
Deva leaned back, looking at the Battlegrounds menu screen where a lone soldier stood in a field of wheat, holding a pan.
"I'm just playing the long game, Arri."