Mind you, in that match, he’d already squandered a 2-sets-to-1 lead but despite the hiccup, it did seem like he was going to pull through. He didn’t. Djokovic then went on to win the next three games in succession, eventually winning the match whilst also breaking Federer’s heart. Exactly one year later, at the very same venue, in the semi-final, lightning struck twice. This time, with the lead even bigger and with the choke more spectacular. At 5-3 and 40-15, serving in the fifth set, there was no way on earth that Federer was going to lose that match. Even Djokovic knew that, for he unleashed a “F*** it, I’m going to go for it” return on Federer’s first serve. As it turned out, the return was inch perfect and it landed on the ad-court. The rest, as they say, is history.

Sports, much like life, gives you chances to redeem yourself. You can either snatch it and grab it with both hands, or you can let it go, cry foul, pin it on fate and keep raving about “what could have been”. New Zealand belong to the latter category and they, astonishingly, were given not one, not two, but three different chances at redemption. Yet three Super Overs later, all they do is keep going back to Lord’s 2019 and sob over the ‘injustice’ that was done to them. If there ever was a trophy awarded for enticing sympathy, you’d believe that New Zealand would win it every year. 

Their structuring was haphazard, there was no planning and as the finishing line got closer and closer, they started panicking. Like a wild animal that’d escaped the forests and somehow made its way to the neighborhood, there they were, wandering cluelessly, not knowing what to do.

What was evident from their second choke in as many days, in the fourth T20I, was that there was no post-mortem done after the Hamilton loss. For all we know, if at all there was a team meeting, players might have been told that they were ‘unlucky’ to have lost the match; who knows, perhaps a player or two might have even narrated anecdotes about the World Cup Final. 

What is appalling - and alarming in the long run for New Zealand - is that at the epicentre of the whole circus were their three most experienced players. It was not the kids who faltered but it was Williamson, Taylor and Southee who, between them, have played more matches than half the Indian side combined. Fair enough, Wiliamson erred once, made an error in judgement, but Ross Taylor’s mindless, condemnable slog in fourth match, especially having been at the heart of the choke in the 3rd T20I, was inexcusable.

Taylor, ideally, should have been the one to see the team over the line or perhaps even have a word or two with Seifert or Mitchell at the other end. Yet, all he could do was perish trying to slog his way out of trouble. You expect senior figures in the side to set an example. In fact, it was no surprise that Mitchell got out the way he did; After all, he’d just seen his senior partner getting out doing something even more atrocious, so in no way is he to blame trying to do the same. 

Given that India mercilessly whacked him in Hamilton, a change - perhaps throwing the ball to a Kuggeljin - might have potentially thrown the visitors off guard. Yet there he was, once again, delivering pie after pie to the batsmen, landing every ball in the slot, balls which pleaded to be hit off the ground. A senior bowler should act like one, but Southee didn’t, and his performances in the Super Over made it look like he’s been all but leeching off his own reputation. But he has over 250 international matches and 400 wickets next to his name, so I guess none of that matters.

Perhaps, if the urge to win was intravenously connected to their veins - like their opponents in this series - Munro would have not jogged his way back to the crease, Santner wouldn't have been joking around with the Indians after tying the match, Jimmy Neesham wouldn’t have been playing for Wellington and Glenn Phillips would have been in the XI. There is a dire need to inculcate a winning habit which, as was evident from the four completed matches, is missing from this team.

And it was Mushfiqur Rahim who took the matter into his own hands to erase the pain of the past. If a team like Bangladesh, in the absence of two of their biggest stars, can refrain from giving excuses and redeem themselves, you wonder what’s stopping New Zealand from doing the same.   

New Zealand have certainly left it late to learn, but then again, it is never too late. It is time for them to set out to win, for they’ve been more than happy to just show up, let alone compete, on way too many occasions. The choke-a-mania in Hamilton and Wellington were reality checks for the side to be ruthless, stop dwelling on the past and start focusing on the future.