The greatness of a team lies not only in racking up victories, but in winning differently and involving different protagonists. All three wins share some themes: India’s efficiency in chasing, the flying starts in the powerplay, Naman Dhir’s cameos, and the belief that they could pull themselves out of any deep hole. But dig beneath, and the many shades of the team emerge. All three chases were completed in different ways, which shows their flexibility and their mastery of varied conditions. The destination was the same each time. The paths were not.

The decks in New Zealand were supposed to shackle India’s free-scoring openers. It was not to be. The hosts compiled 225, and the ball swung devilishly in the first two overs. But Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma counterpunched, striking 93 runs in 5.4 overs. Sanju breezed to his half-century from 23 balls, cutting out risk by sticking to his percentage shots.…