India, Jan. 26 -- When Ravi Bishnoi came in to bowl the fifth over on Sunday, he was effectively stepping into Varun Chakravarthy's shoes. Because India now have this template of going to a spinner inside the Powerplay, Bishnoi was an obvious choice in the absence of the rested Chakravarthy or the injured Axar Patel since Kuldeep usually comes later when the field is spread out. This was a big step up for Bishnoi, especially since he had last featured in a T20I in February last year.

Facing him were Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips, two of the cleanest hitters in T20 cricket. So Bishnoi started flat and short. Seifert cut him hard but couldn't clear a diving Suryakumar Yadav at cover. Next ball was darted in again. Next ball, the same. Bot...