**Day 1 – National Development Pool Program**
**Location: BCCI Excellence Academy, Himachal Pradesh**
The 22 selected players arrive in black BCCI vans. They exit at a snow-framed facility — part fortress, part temple of cricket. Cameras don't reach here. But pressure does.
Dhoni is already waiting, beside Rahul Dravid and bowling consultant Zaheer Khan.
> Dhoni: "Welcome to your second birth as cricketers."
---
### ⚙️ Training Begins: No Comfort Zone
Morning sessions are brutal.
5 AM: Cold-weather endurance runs
7 AM: Net sessions with rotating pacers at 145+ kph
10 AM: One-on-one technique reviews via AI footage breakdowns
Afternoon: Mental resilience lectures
Players realize — this is no longer about being better than others.
> It's about surviving themselves.
---
### 🧠 Mental Warfare
A sports psychologist enters:
> "You have been scanned — not just physically, but psychologically.
Over the next month, we'll train your instincts.
Your triggers.
Your darkest patterns."
Players are shown emotional heatmaps of their failures in previous matches.
Zayaan sees his anger spikes.
Yuvraj's graph glows red under pressure.
Aryan's map is... eerily flat.
> Psychologist (to Aryan): "You don't break. You vanish. That too... is dangerous."
---
### 🏋️♂️ Omkar's Rise Continues
In spin nets, Omkar bowls to Dravid. Not a flinch. No fancy turn — just precision.
> Dravid: "You remind me of the old days. No flash. Just result."
He's made vice-captain of the National Pool.
Zayaan fumes but says nothing.
---
### 📱 Media Access Denied
BCCI bans all social media for the players. No phones post 9 PM.
This isn't a reality show. This is *India's cricket lab.*
But leaked rumors surface.
> "A tournament is coming. India vs India. Televised. International scouts will watch."
Players start whispering:
This is more than a program.
It's a gladiator arena.
---
### 🧘 Night Session – Visualisation Drill
Players sit under low light, eyes closed.
> Instructor: "See the stadium.
Hear the crowd.
Now imagine the ball…
What do you do when your bat feels heavy?"
Aryan sees nothing. He only hears one voice — his father's — still doubting him.
He opens his eyes and walks out mid-session.
Outside, he stares at the nets.
> Aryan (softly): "My answers don't come from silence. They come from the ball."
---
### 🔚 Closing Scene
In the mess hall, the players sit in silence.
Omkar breaks it.
> Omkar: "This isn't a team. It's a timeline. Only the ones who move forward… survive."
---
🔥 **Next: Chapter 27 – Trial by Fire: The National Pool League is Announced**