Several days passed; two days before we flew to Sri Lanka, all of us assembled for a team meeting in the meeting hall. They had been preparing for this T20 series for weeks and were ready to give it their all. David started speaking. He reminded them that this series was important in preparation for the Champions Trophy, Asia Cup, and World Cup that were happening in the next year. He also explained that he had devised a plan for the three matches in the series so that each of the 15 players would get a chance to play in at least one of them. Everyone clapped their hands, and our proactive Zahiri said, "Yes, coach, definitely!"David handed the session over to me, saying, "Tara, you can give your input." I took a deep breath and began speaking,
"Boys, we have a mission to achieve, and we need to strive for it. As an analyst on the team, I'm always here to support you the way you want. Based on the practice session and practice match, there are areas to improve for each of you; it can be anything related to your techniques, your stamina, etc. I don't want to go in person to address each of your points. Let's take this as initial feedback and work on it. In our next meeting, we will discuss this in person. All the best." The boys nodded in agreement. Rachin spoke up. "Thanks, Dhidhi," he said. David smiled and nodded.
We took a break for the rest of the day. It's 7a.m. next day, and all of us boarded our plane to Sri Lanka. The plane touched down in Colombo, and the group disembarked. After a short taxi ride, we arrived at the hotel and settled in. I heard someone knocking on my door. I opened it to find three familiar faces—Zahiri, Adhi, and Rachin—all of them with a huge bag of snacks in their hands.
I looked at them in surprise. Zahiri, the leader of the trio, gave me a mischievous smile and said, "We're coming in!'" And with that, they walked right into my room. I was confused, but before I could say anything, Adhi said, "We knew you would be bored too, so we came here". Rachin smiled, and the three of them sat in a circle on the floor. Rachin pulled out a pack of cards and asked me if I could play. I said I was a pro at it, so the game began. The room quickly filled with laughter and the sound of snacks being eaten. I felt myself getting closer to the boys with each passing minute. We played for hours. I had never felt this way before, and I knew that this moment would stay with me for a long time.
It was 6 a.m. next morning, and the practice session had just begun. Our boys were full of energy and enthusiasm, but they knew that they were representing the nation and were mature enough to take their cricket seriously.Two weeks of practice came to an end, and it was the day of the first T20 match. The team selected by David was GOAT as opener, Rahul as keeper and opener, Dhawan, Ajay, Rachin, Surya, Pritam, Pratik, Roby, Zayn, and Jadhav. India won the toss and decided to bat first. GOAT and Rahul put on a spectacular show, with GOAT scoring a 78th century and Rahul scoring 67 runs. Dhawan, Pritam, and Pratik all contributed to the total of 220 for 2. When it came time to bowl, the Indian team was unstoppable. Ajay took a 5-wicket haul and Rachin took 3 wickets, and the Sri Lankan team was unable to stand up to the Indian bowlers. The match ended in a one-sided victory for India. After the match, the team celebrated in the dressing room. But David made sure that the focus was kept on the team's victory and not on individual performances. He said, "We won this as a team; let's keep it that way."
The 2nd T20 match had the 2nd combination of teams sent to play, and Rahul was replaced by Zahiri as keeper and opener, and Rachin was replaced by Harpreet Patel. We won the toss again, but elected to bowl first this time. Unfortunately, things didn't go our way, and our performance in the field was poor. Many catch chances were dropped, and the ground fielding was par. We were given a target of 278, which was very high. Our boys tried their best in the batting, but they were unable to reach the target. Despite their hard work, we lost the match. Everyone was disappointed with the result. The post-match gathering in the dressing room was a somber one. Everyone was feeling the disappointment of the loss and had their heads held low. As I walked into the room, I could feel the energy drop even further. Taking a deep breath, I spoke up. "Boys, why do you all remain so disappointed? Yes, we lost the match, but isn't it a good thing? We lost a match at our initial stage, so we can see what went wrong and get back on track. Why do you all look so down? Cheer up! Cheer up!"
Gaurav, the goat, supported me by agreeing with my point. He spoke the same way and slowly raised the morale of the team. Everyone began to nod and give their agreement. "Yes, captain! We are not crying babies; we will show our fighting spirits!" they said in unison, and I couldn't help but smile. We all clapped our hands in agreement and motivation, and the energy in the room began to change. We were ready to fight again!
The third T20 match between India and Sri Lanka was a close one. Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. The Indian team had some changes in their lineup, with Adhi replacing GOAT as opener and Rachin replacing Zayn. The Indian bowlers bowled decently and managed to restrict the opposition to 180. Adhi and Zahiri opened the batting for India and had a good start with a first-wicket partnership of 95 runs. Zahiri was dismissed by a runout, and Roby came in to bat. Adhi and Roby reconstructed the batting and managed to keep the scoreboard ticking. In the end, Adhi scored 87 and Roby scored 48, and India won the match by six wickets. In the post-match gathering, the team was praised by David for their fighting spirits. He was particularly impressed by Adhi and Roby for their batting partnership. He said that it was a great display of skill and resilience and that it was the kind of performance that will take the team to the next level.
We packed our things to return to India. It was 8 p.m. when I reached the airport in Mumbai. I quickly hailed a cab and made my way home. I had watched them play for years, cheering them on from the sidelines as a spectator. But now, here I was, standing on the sidelines with them, ready to help them win. It was a moment I will never forget. Working with Team India as an analyst has been a dream come true. I had experienced a different level of emotion—one that I could only understand when I was standing alongside the team.