After yet another home series defeat in the preceding ODIs, India heaved a sigh of relief as they eased to victory in the opening T20 of the five-match series against New Zealand.
Batting first on a sluggish surface in Nagpur, India posted 238-7. The total proved more than enough as the Kiwis were restricted to 190-7; the total inflated by poor ground fielding by India.
Once again, it was India opener and world No1 T20 batter Abhishek Sharma who proved the difference.
Abhishek hit 84 from just 35 balls with the help of eight sixes and five fours. That is a strike rate of 240. Among other top order batters in the match, New Zealand's Glenn Phillips came closest to matching Abhishek, hitting 78 from 40 balls. Rinku Singh cracked 44 from 20 at the death thanks mainly to a flurry of boundaries in the final over against non-regular bowler Daryl Mitchell.
This was not the first instance of Abhishek holding India's batting together. Over the last 12 months, the left-handed batter has emerged as the most consistent and destructive India batter – and by a fair distance.
Since last January, Abhishek has scored a little under 1,000 runs in 22 matches – 943 to be exact. The next best is Tilak Varma with almost half as many runs – 567. And Varma is recuperating from an emergency abdominal surgery which has put his T20 World Cup participation in doubt.
The next best is all-rounder Hardik Pandya with one third as many runs as Abhishek. After Pandya, it is Shubman Gill who was first appointed as vice-captain of the T20 team and is now not even part of the World Cup squad.
All of which means India have mostly become a one-man batting unit. Over the last 12 months, India have scored more than 200 four times. Abhishek was the top-scorer in three out of four of those matches.
The below average form of captain Suryakumar Yadav, the removal of Gill at the top of the order, the hit or miss style of Sanju Samson and the injury to Varma have resulted in India's batting relying heavily on the shoulders of Abhishek and their lower order of Pandya, Shivam Dube and Rinku.
It worked on Wednesday but can fail on the big day. Like it almost did in the Asia Cup final in Dubai last year against Pakistan where Abhishek fell early in pursuit of 147. It was Varma's crucial sixes right towards the end that secured India the match and the title after they looked to have bottled the chase.
Teams have started to plan specifically for Abhishek not only because he is the most dangerous batter in T20 cricket but also that he is currently the only dangerous batter in the Indian line-up.
“All teams have a plan for me. It's about my preparation. I'm going to back my instincts,” Abhishek said after his latest exploits against the Kiwis.
There are four more matches remaining in the T20 series against New Zealand and the Indian team management will be hoping the likes of Samson and captain Yadav at least make consistent contributions.
Both should be out of the mix for the next T20 World Cup, which makes next month's showpiece event possibly their last in India colours.
If at least one of the two senior batters gets some runs under his belt, India's decent lower order should be able to provide adequate cushion whenever Abhishek fails.
Injuries are also a constant threat in T20 cricket. But India have no ready or tested replacement for Abhishek. It is a result of their misguided attempt to force Gill into a settled T20 line-up, instead of testing and promoting other swashbuckling left-handed openers such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi or Priyansh Arya.
Now, there is no time left for experimentation. All India can hope for is that Abhishek does not lose form or picks up an injury. And that is a dangerous place to be.
