If there was one little, tiny bit of issue to sort out before going into the 2016 ICC World T20 for India, it would have been MS Dhoni finding some batting, big-hitting form.
The India captain did not have the opportunity to face too many deliveries in this Asia Cup, with Dhoni, who has struggled with a back injury all tournament, insisting he is more than happy not to get too much batting action in the middle, because that means the top and middle order batsmen are doing pretty well.
However, Dhoni would have liked a crack out in the middle, just to get that he-wins-the-match-for-India-again feeling going, and the captain certainly got those pulses racing with an emphatic six-ball innings in the Asia Cup T20 final against Bangladesh.
With the chase just a trifle tricky at 22 from 14 balls, and the settled Shikhar Dhawan dismissed, the match might have gone into the final couple of balls, if not for Dhoni and his immense ability to handle nerves under pressure.
It really is ridiculous how easy Dhoni makes pressure look, so easy that pressure will be sick of the sight of the India captain. Here is a word that is supposed to make most professionals sweat, but when it comes to Dhoni, those sweat glands don't even bother coming out.
A couple and a single off his first two balls -- the last two deliveries of the 13th over -- in this 15-overs-a-side match, meant, India needed 19 from 12 balls with Dhoni on strike.
The likelihood was Dhoni just taking a single and giving the strike back to that other-nerveless-under-pressure man Virat Kohli. However, Al-Amin Hossain pitched the ball up in the first delivery of the over, and Dhoni's eyes lit up, as if Diwali had come early for the man from Ranchi.
Dhoni showed his doubters he can still tonk the ball into orbit at ease with a massive 104-metre six, before smashing a boundary over extra cover – which nearly went for a maximum as well. He finished the match off like he nromally does, with a six, this time over midwicket
With Shikhar Dhawan finding form in this match as well, Rohit in sparkling touch, Kohli, well, being Kohli, Suresh Raina looking alright, Yuvraj Singh batting a lot like the Yuvraj Singh we know and love and Hardik Pandya demonstrating his hitting powers, the only thing that was missing was a typical Dhoni innings, just to warm-up nicely for the World T20.
That came in this final, and even if the knock was just six balls, it had everything in it to suggest this India batting order is in rude health. No chinks in the armoury really, and under home conditions, those health levels will only go up.
India are in a difficult group in the World T20, and they really cannot afford any slipups if they are to enter the semifinals. So, this batting unit will need to continue batting like it did in the Australia series, Sri Lanka series – Pune notwithstanding – and Asia Cup.
If they do that, with Dhoni leading the way as captain and with his willow, India and their fans will have a good time in the World T20.
