India, Oct. 23 -- The curious thing about Naman Dhir is how little time he seems to need to switch on. In a format in which the first few deliveries can determine whether a batter is going to have an innings or merely appear in one, Dhir has begun to make a virtue of skipping the preliminaries. He arrives, takes stock, and starts hitting. It can be untidy at times, and sometimes it can border on the spectacular. But it is increasingly proving to be useful.

At Christchurch against New Zealand on Thursday, India needed 55 from five overs just after Dhir walked in during the 15th over of a chase of 226. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma had laid the platform, and Shreyas Iyer had taken on the business of keeping the chase together. But Iyer ...