*New Delhi, September 2014 — National Cricket Academy (NCA)*
The monsoon was fading. What remained in the air was the memory of rain — and the heavy scent of ambition. Delhi's early autumn carried a strange kind of hunger, the kind Ishaan Verma knew all too well.
The World Cup was over. The medals had been packed. The headlines had faded into back pages. The cameras had moved on.
But Ishaan? He was just getting started.
---
He arrived at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru in early August for a three-month intensive training program. But the heart of India's cricketing future wasn't in the nets or the gym. It was in the room full of mirrors — video analysis labs where your flaws were dissected in 1080p.
"Forget your World Cup," said Coach Neeraj Rawat on Day 1. "Everyone here has one. Or something bigger. You want to play for India? Welcome to the queue."
Ishaan nodded, not offended. He liked Rawat immediately.
The schedule was brutal. Morning fitness, followed by skill-specific drills, then net sessions. Video analysis, then lectures. Dinner by 8. Lights out by 10.
He roomed with a wiry off-spinner from Tamil Nadu named Sandeep. Talkative, funny, and a stats geek. "You know Kohli had a strike rate of 147 in the 2008 U-19 final? You beat his score, bro."
Ishaan didn't respond.
Because every time someone mentioned the World Cup, he winced.
It wasn't pressure.
It was expectation.
---
**The Call**
One afternoon, while Ishaan was shadow-practicing in the dorm balcony, his phone rang. A number with a Delhi code.
He answered.
"Is this Ishaan Verma?"
"Yes."
"This is Vikram Pathania from the BCCI Selection Committee. We're assembling a group for the India A team's winter tour to South Africa. You've been shortlisted for the batting camp in Mumbai next week. Don't say anything to the press."
Ishaan stood still.
He didn't even say thank you.
That night, he opened his diary:
*This is the noise before the storm. I must train like I'm already out there.*
---
**Training in Mumbai — BKC Ground**
The Bandra-Kurla Complex Ground was a different beast. Noisy. Urban. The kind of place where skyscrapers stood behind the nets like judges.
Here, he wasn't the best anymore.
Prithvi Shaw was there.
So was Riyan Singh.
Yes. That Riyan.
They hadn't spoken since their junior days, but now they shared nets. Ishaan was older, better. But so was Riyan — leaner, meaner, quicker through the air.
Their rivalry had matured from playground jabs to quiet glances.
Day 3 of camp: Ishaan and Riyan were asked to face each other in a match simulation.
Riyan to Ishaan.
First ball: sharp leg-break. Dot.
Second: flighted. Ishaan steps out. Drives over mid-off.
Third: Googly. Ishaan reads it. Works it through midwicket.
Fourth: A slider.
Ishaan misses.
Stumps rattled.
Riyan didn't celebrate.
Just walked past him, muttering, "Still watching the fingers?"
Ishaan smiled. "Still hiding the spin?"
Coach Pathania called it the best mini-battle of the camp.
Both were picked for India A.
---
**South Africa Tour — October 2014**
India A vs. South Africa A.
Four ODIs, three unofficial Tests.
Pitches with bounce. Bowlers who bowled over 145. And no second chances.
In the first ODI, Ishaan opened the batting. First ball, he was hit on the ribs. Second, he edged and was dropped. Third, he found the boundary.
He scored 43.
In the next two games, he found form — 62 and 74.
Riyan took 3 wickets in both matches.
Commentators called them the new age of Indian cricket: one calm, one combustible.
During a rest day, they finally talked.
"You'll make it before me," Riyan said. "But I'll be waiting."
"You better be," Ishaan replied.
---
**The Girl Behind the Voice**
Back in India, the World Cup video packages were still floating online.
One night, Ishaan got a message.
Unknown handle.
*"That final knock. You played with poetry. — E.W."*
He stared at the initials.
No.
Couldn't be.
He replied: *"Thank you. You inspired more of it than you know."*
No reply.
But that night, he wrote in his diary:
*Her voice got me through nets when no one was watching. I don't need to meet her. Not yet. But one day, she'll see I didn't stop here.*
---
**First-Class Debut**
October 2015 — Ranji Trophy
Mumbai vs. Karnataka
The Wankhede was still an ocean of dreams. And now, Ishaan was walking into it not as a spectator, not as a camper — but as a Mumbai player.
Number three.
His father's voice echoed: *"Score your first hundred for Mumbai, and you'll become part of the city's heartbeat."*
He did.
104 in the first innings. 63 in the second.
Riyan called. "I saw it. Damn you."
Ishaan replied, "I'm just warming up."