Retribution was swift and decisive as India bounced back from a rare defeat in Mumbai in clinical fashion in the second ODI in Pune. It wasn’t just the fact that India won by six wickets that was impressive. Their strategies and game plans, executed wonderfully well by the bowlers with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in the forefront, were particularly eye-catching.

Having worked with Bhuvi at close quarters for a few years now, I can assert that it is no accident that he has reached the lofty heights he occupies today, as one of the finest white-ball bowlers in world cricket. When he was not in the Indian team through the early parts of 2016, he worked hard on improving his skills and adding to his repertoire of variations. He was always a wonderful swing bowler, but by the time he came to IPL 2016, he had become a couple of yards quicker without compromising on his swing. He has loads of confidence and self-belief, and is like a sponge when it comes to learning. Once he figures out a particular ball, he won’t rest till he gets is right, which is why he has such control over his yorker, the knuckle ball and other myriad slower deliveries at the death. His dismissal of Martin Guptill was particularly heart-warming, almost Test match-like in both conception and execution.

Bumrah is the polar opposite of Bhuvi in that he was always a wonderful bowler at the death but was a little expensive at the top. And where Bhuvi has worked on his finishing skills, Bumrah has become a lot more proficient with the new ball. Having added the ball that shapes away from the right-hander, or at least holds its line, he has started to ask difficult questions with the new ball. B&B have emerged as the fast-bowling pair to beat in global white-ball cricket.

I thought Virat also captained the side beautifully, proactive and always looking to squeeze New Zealand dry. Even when Tom Latham was beginning to look dangerous, he kept six men in the 30-yard circle and cut off the singles. In Mumbai, Latham and Ross Taylor had used the sweep shot with telling results. India made a tactical change by bringing in the faster, flatter Axar Patel instead of the slower, more loopy Kuldeep Yadav. Virat also employed Kedar Jadhav’s off-spin generously, having not bowled him at Mumbai. And the lines in Pune were a lot more outside off, compared to the first game when the spinners bowled far too straight.

A target of 231 was never going to test India. Shikhar Dhawan played with characteristic gusto and Dinesh Karthik made the most of his surprise promotion to No. 4 with a fluent half-century, thus setting the stage for a brilliant finale in Kanpur.

(Gameplan)