The seeds of India’s memorable chase at Mohali were sown in Delhi. Virat Kohli suffered a rare uncharacteristic soft dismissal and captain MS Dhoni had failed to guide India home. It was almost as if the two most experienced ODI players in the team were itching to get onto the park and pounce on the next opportunity. Virat, the master of chases, hit an unbeaten 154 in 134b (16x4, 1x6) and Dhoni slammed 80 in 91b (6x4, 3x6) as their 151-run stand set the game up for the hosts, before a 97-run partnership between Virat and Manish Pandey sealed the deal. What stood out on the night was MS Dhoni’s promotion to No. 4. His aggressive intent right from the start put New Zealand on the backfoot and he stepped out on three occasions to clear the fence. The chase in Mohali has given a probable idea about Team India’s batting approach in ODIs. With Dhoni batting at four, the process of developing more finishers has begun.

After the match, we caught up with Sanjay Bangar, batting coach of the Indian team to get an insight.

As a batting coach of Team India, are you thoroughly satisfied with the performance? It was a fabulous batting performance. We were expecting dew to set in today, but there was no hint of dew and the wicket slowed down considerably. The bowlers used slower balls and cutters a lot. From that point of view, it was a wonderful chase with a couple of good partnerships between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli and Virat & Manish. It was a very pleasing performance. Virat brought up his 16th ODI ton while batting second. What are the qualities that make him such a phenomenal batsman when chasing? He reads the game very well. He is aware of the situations and he beautifully sets the game up. He runs hard, picks his scoring areas and exactly knows opposition’s plans apart from the game plan that he possesses. A combination of all these factors make him one of the best batsmen to play the shorter format. MS Dhoni walked out to bat at No. 4 and the move worked beautifully. Can we expect him to bat more frequently at that position? He batted with a lot of freedom. Batting up the order, he hasn’t got many opportunities. He has been batting at No. 5 or 6. In the last two-three seasons, our top-order has done so well that he has had fewer opportunities to bat and that is why his performance or contributions have not been noticed. I am very pleased for him that he got enough time to spend in the middle. He hit the trademark shots that he has always been capable of, but he had been holding back. I am happy that he has not got that out of the cold storage. When Dhoni and Virat are out in the middle, it is a pleasure to watch. They score quickly and run well. What makes them tick? They combine very well. They have batted on numerous occasions and understand each other’s game very well. There is a lot of communication in the middle. With the kind of experience and skill they possess, their partnership set up the game. It was probably the highest run chase at this ground, so it is very pleasing. Even when Dhoni got out, India still needed 94 runs. The partnership between Virat and Manish too was crucial. He (Manish) is a fabulous talent. He is supremely fit and is someone who has great faith in his abilities. The kind of innings he has played for India in a short span of time; won us a game in Sydney. We are all aware of the quality he possesses. He was disappointed after not finishing the job in the first two games. He was very determined. He trains hard and has played well across all formats. He is an experienced first-class player as well and has gone through the grind. I am very happy that he came good and had that partnership with Virat that took the pressure off him. Virat’s 14th ODI ton in successful chases. When the target nears, he almost ends the contest with a flurry of boundaries and sixesin one over. We do speak that we need to get into the habit of finishing the games slightly early, which means we may have to score more runs from overs 30 to 40. That is something we have been working on with the rule change. With the extra fielder outside the circle, there are certain adjustments we need to make. There was a set pattern with the earlier rule in place for a long time. We are trying to break that pattern, but chases like these are a brilliant example of how we can build on the early inroads that we have made and tackle the new rule change. Dhoni has said that finishers are not created overnight. A player needs to be given maximum opportunities to understand the role. With Manish, Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya, are we in the process of having more finishers? Yes, these are the players and there are few more waiting in the wings. They are capable players and it does take time. When you are batting at No. 5 or 6, you get fewer balls to play. There would be a couple of occasions when a team would be 40/2 and then you must do the rebuilding phase as well. You need a versatile player; someone who has played a lot of first-class cricket and someone who is cool under pressure. What MS said is correct. People will evolve. It is just a matter of them getting a lot of games. By finishing games, they will have the belief that they can do it at the international level as well. That is how a player evolves and progresses.