India, Sept. 29 -- Often the best innings are those that won't dazzle you with averages or strike rates but quietly win the game because that's the point of competitive sport. Which is why the timing of Tilak Varma's fifty and how it enabled two crucial partnerships with Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube is peerless.

The win against Pakistan at Melbourne, 2022 was eked out in equally daunting circumstances-India were 31/4 at one point-but it was also largely engineered by Virat Kohli's ingenuity. For this India setup to forge something similar between three batters of different styles is more admirable, given the circumstances leading up to the Asia Cup final.

Think about it. By ascertaining that there would be no fixed position after No 3-w...