The tenacity and the self-assuredness with which the team approached the chase from the very first ball was reminiscent to their ruthless, authoritative selves that have, in all honesty, been missing - at least in limited-overs cricket - since *THAT* game against England in the 2019 World Cup. That game, incidentally, turned out to be the first of many nails that the team would go on to hit on its own head. 

A night that had disaster written all over it instead turned out to be the one where India re-discovered their mojo, reaffirmed the authority and re-established themselves as this unassailable, invincible team we’ve been wanting to picture them as. 

But despite their unflinching display on Sunday, despite their batting being all but impregnable and their attitude, after having a torrid time with the ball conceding 203, being indestructible, you still just get a sense that if enough holes are exploited, this team can be broken down. For if their bowlers are put under immeasurable pressure - as the Windies did in the 2nd T20I in Thiruvanathapuram in December -  or if their batsmen are choked from the word go - as was the case in the 3rd T20I versus South Africa in Bengaluru - you get the sense that their wheels can be broken and that they might crumble. 

There is a sense of incompleteness that is currently looming around the team. There is that one final piece in the jigsaw that seems missing and, as a result of which, the team seems to be, even at their very best, a half-cooked meal that still tastes delicious.  The good news for India, however, is that they already know what the one-piece, the one ingredient is: A fully-fit Hardik Pandya.

And to put it explicitly, India have been missing his services big time. The team has spent a good part of the last 10 T20s experimenting, desperately trying to fill in the void that he’s left, trying out different players and combinations and yet, when the opposition has asked the right questions, every single time, the cover has been blown in one way or another. 

There have been moments, snippets in this T20 season - that have gone against India - that have highlighted the absence of Pandya which, had he been fit, would never have been a cause for concern.  On two separate occasions with the bat - first versus Bangladesh in Delhi, then versus the Windies in Trivandrum - the team fell considerably short of a par score, despite holding ample wickets in hand. At that point in time, the match scenario cried for a power-hitter down the order who can hold the opposition bowlers by the scruff of their necks, yet all India could manage was stutter and scamper their way to a below-par total that was, in the end, comfortably chased down by their opponents. 

It is the conundrum that would end up eating the heads of the management, and might even eventually result in their downfall. What do they do to replace Pandya? Playing two spin-bowling all-rounders isn’t feasible, for it just cannot happen in conditions away from home and even if that’s the case, they lack the firepower with the bat.

Dube, for the raw talent he is, is still light-years behind Pandya both as a batsman - he predominantly relies on slogging the ball and struggles against quality bowling - and a bowler - he does not have enough pace and variation to trouble the batsmen and strays on his length way too often - and is way too inexperienced a campaigner to be trusted with first-team-duties come the World Cup.

A traversal from top to bottom should give us a good idea of why Pandya is so important to the team. For starters, his presence considerably frees up both Rahul and Rohit up top, knowing that there won’t be a need for one of them to stay till the end and see the team home owing to a destructive presence down the order.

This, in turn, will also allow Kohli to play himself into the game and occupy one end, something he has not quite done too well this season. It will also be pretty naive to expect Iyer to pull off an Auckland-esque innings every now and then and deliver under pressure, for he’s still young and has a more Kohli-esque nature attached to his game. Thus, Pandya’s presence would not only help Iyer understand his role better but also help him pace his innings better. 

If anything, it is a testament to Hardik Pandya the cricketer that over the course of the last 18 months, India have had players fill the shoes of Kohli, Rohit and even Bumrah, in their absence, but not him. In Pandya, Kohli has a generational talent who, arguably, holds the key to him lifting his first-ever ICC Trophy as a skipper. India have the final piece in their hands, and it is now up to them to handle it with care and seamlessly slot it in, for they must ensure that they do not break it or disrupt the rest of the puzzle in the process of doing so.