The question on his all-rounder utility amused Anshul Kamboj. Grinning, he offered a simple answer to a complex question: “If you have a ball in your hand, you are a bowler. If you have a bat in your hand, you are a batsman. That’s it.” After a pause, he dwelled again on the most vaunted portfolio in white-ball cricket: “You don’t have to focus on bowling during batting. You don’t have to focus on bowling during batting. When you have a bat in your hand, you just think about batting. When you have a ball in your hand, you just think about bowling.”

Something of an all-rounder project, his competent batting as crucial a facet as his bustling bowling in his fast-tracking process, he did not have to perform all-round duties. He was just required to bowl, which he performed with remarkable clarity. His 10-2-22-2 would be remembered as one of the stingiest spells overseas by an Indian bowler.…