The players milled around in the Dunedin Airport foyer in their No 1s, waiting for the boarding call.
For anyone watching, there was no obvious sign the team was about to depart on its biggest adventure.
The $US6 million ($NZ8.34 million) Champions League twenty/20 tournament is probably the biggest, and unquestionably the richest, sports event to which an Otago team has been invited, and it provides an unprecedented opportunity for the players to perform on the world stage.
"It's huge and there is no doubt everyone is excited," Otago coach Mike Hesson said.
"They've been excited the last couple of weeks and it is just great to get on the road."
The team was yesterday bound for Brisbane where it will play a series of warm-up games before heading to India on October 2 to complete its preparation with games against the Deccan Chargers and Somerset.
The Volts open their campaign against South Africa's Cape Cobras on October 10.
"I see the Cape Cobras have been confirmed the favourites and Bangalore are third at the moment, so we have a couple of big games in our pool," Hesson said.
Otago plays the Bangalore Royal Challengers on October 12 in its second and final pool match.
One win from the two pool games could be enough to send the Volts through to the final eight.
The Dunedin-based team will go into the tournament as one of the outsiders.
"We certainly wouldn't expect to be ranked up there, and I think that is a good thing. When we play the Deccan Chargers in India that will be a good chance for us to assess exactly where we are. Hopefully, we do show that we have a lot more to offer than some think."
Otago captain Craig Cumming believes his side has prepared well and he is not discouraged by the tough draw.
"If we can do everyone a favour by knocking one of those teams out, then when we go through to the next round it will only get easier for us."
He said the high level of support from the community had been "brilliant" and had helped motivate the team.
"The amount of people who have come up to us during the last three months has been amazing. We go away knowing there is a huge amount of support in Otago and Southland and we want to make sure we represent those people with pride and passion."
