There's just this very confident air around this Indian T20I team right now. You see it on the field for sure, but also off it. Whether it's in the way they deal with both victory and defeat in front of a raucous audience, or even in the quiet while having a meal next to the esplanade in Broadbeach. Like Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma were in the company of bowling coach Morne Morkel a few hours before the fourth T20I.
You also sense it in the way they react to different situations during the course of a match in the shortest format. To the extent, it's at times difficult to make out if they are in front or if they are playing catch-up in a contest. For large parts of the historic first-ever Indian men's team international on the Gold Coast, Suryakumar Yadav's team did seem to be fighting from behind.
Australia had bowled well enough to restrict the visitors to a total that on the face of it seemed more pedestrian than threatening. In the absence of Josh Hazlewood, the likes of Nathan Ellis had taken the lead to utilise the two-paced nature of the surface at Carrara to never let the power-packed Indian batting line-up get away.
And after a rather promising start for the Aussies with the bat in their PowerPlay, the match did seem to be slipping away from India.
But you wouldn't have made that out by the way Suryakumar was handling his forces. He still seemed to have the confidence, the belief and the realisation that his team were still in with a fighting chance.
That's what it came down to eventually on Thursday evening at the Carrara Oval on the Gold Coast. Confidence, belief and the realisation that they can indeed win a T20I from any position.
Qualities that have made this Indian team the best in this format by a massive margin. But also qualities that are reflective of why the current world champions will go into next year's T20 World Cup as overwhelming favourites.
And this despite them missing a couple of key players in this team, including their talisman, Hardik Pandya.
For, after the first four of Australia's run-chase, the hosts already seemed to be well in control of the run-chase. While Mitch Marsh was looking threatening at the other end, Matt Short was the one who had given his team a rousing start. He'd gone after Arshdeep Singh, and really made a statement, while Jasprit Bumrah had failed to strike in his first two overs.
Enter Axar Patel, often the one superstar in this Indian line-up who slips under the radar. Firstly, he gets rid of Short who falls to a false sweep shot, before sending back Josh Inglis to an even worse hoick against the line. But captain Marsh still loomed large on the probable outcome, only for Suryakumar, who had by then used all his premier bowlers, to turn to Shivam Dube's medium-pace. And Dube had Marsh holing out to deep backward square-leg with only his second delivery.
That remained the theme of the remainder of Australia's innings, as every time they seemed to forge a partnership of any note, the Indian captain would make a bowling change, as if he was pre-empting a wicket. Like when Arshdeep Singh came back for the 14th over and got rid of Josh Philippe, or Varun Chakravarthy returned to finish his spell and dismissed Glenn Maxwell on his first appearance of the series. After he'd stalled Marcus Stoinis at the other end.
The best illustration of this controlled orchestration of a run-defence of course coming late in the piece when Washington Sundar was brought on to bowl his first over in the 17th of Australia's innings.
With Australia needing over 14 an over, the plot was pretty straightforward. It was Stoinis versus Sundar, only for the wily off-spinner to restrict the muscular power-hitter, before getting him trapped in front. Washington's figures after that first over, 2 for 2, having added the scalp of Xavier Bartlett with the very next delivery.
In the end, India hadn't just snuck through to a victory, they had instead recorded a thumping win to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
And it wasn't all done through sticking to a fixed formula either.
India chose to be very experimental with the way they set their batting line-up. From sending Shivam Dube at No 3 to potentially take down the spinner to having Jitesh Sharma bat ahead of the in-form Washington. It wasn't like all their gambles worked out, but they didn't hurt their cause either. Much like Shubman Gill's otherwise workmanlike knock, where he fought his way to a 39-ball 46, which in hindsight proved to be the perfect kind of match-winning knock required for the conditions. Another sign of just how versatile this Indian team has become as they continue to enhance their reputation of being a nearly indomitable juggernaut in T20I cricket.
