Mumbai, Feb. 10 -- How much will be enough? It is one of the most complex questions team managements' face in white-ball cricket. To make things simpler, when conditions are expected to stay neutral across two innings, teams prefer to chase. It's what the USA did against India on Saturday. It's what Suryakumar Yadav would have done if he had the opportunity, even though he said something else at the toss. In a candid conversation picked up by the broadcast cameras just before the toss, former India skipper Rohit Sharma told the current captain Surya: "Fielding kar, pagal hai kya (choose fielding, are you mad)!" When put in to bat first, intel is passed on from the departing to the incoming batter, it becomes the focal point of conversation in strategic time outs, it's what on-ground analysts are there for - to help with info that is relayed to the players via coaches. Yet, batting teams fluff their lines as India almost did against the USA. It might have become a rude wake-up call for the hosts but for Surya's brilliance; his innings may go down as one of the better ones in the month-long extravaganza ahead of us. In USA's meticulous bowling, India's batting collapse and Surya-crafted recovery, there were plenty of early learnings for the defending champions. "We took a little time to figure out what should be a good score because the Wankhede pitch is usually flat," Axar Patel admitted post match. "When I went in, we were targeting 135-140." By the time Axar arrived in the 13th over - India were 77/6 - a lot of the damage was already done. Ishan Kishan's early impression, when he was batting in the Powerplay was that the pitch was two-paced, but they would still need 170 to make it a good score. In between, during the middle overs phase, the message got lost in translation. So used to scoring boundaries have Indian batters been between the last T20 World Cup and this one - 68.6% of their runs have come in boundaries, the most in the world - that many of them couldn't resist the temptation to clear the ropes in trying to release pressure. This, even after realizing it wasn't a typical Mumbai pitch and the USA bowlers were getting grip off the surface. Four of India's batting 8 - Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh and Axar Patel were out caught on the boundary. Even Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma were caught in the circle, trying to force the issue. This tournament is being played in a batting era, where the anchor batter is going out of vogue. And Powerplay intent is justified. But, the India-USA tie was a timely reminder that a World Cup will throw up scenarios from time to time, where conditions will challenge batters and they would need to employ different gears. Coupled with the pressure of the big stage, adaptability becomes crucial. Surya got runs because he had a dash of luck and then was able to adapt. The Indian captain began patiently, having scored only 21 runs off his first 22 balls with three boundaries. He was then able to collect 63 runs in the next 27 balls with seven boundaries and four sixes. Three sixes and three fours came off Saurabh Netravalkar, who he targeted at his preferred zone behind square on the leg side. Not with the angle, but against the left-armers' angle bowled from over the wicket. That was Mr 360's genius at work, supple wrists and falling scoops. For that he had to earn the right to bat until the end, courtesy his ticking mind and unmatched skill. "It was a different Wankhede pitch. There wasn't enough sunlight to have the pitch watered and rolled, that could be one reason. But we can't be brushing everything under the carpet, we could have batted a little better," Surya said at the presentation. "We could have batted a little smarter, even small partnerships could have got us to 160 rather than one or two batters trying to play till the end." And even with Surya taking calculated risks, the constant pressure of raising the game's tempo meant he could have been out, caught and bowled in the 10th over on 15, and that might have forced high-flying India to lie low. India has a match to come at Colombo soon - should Pakistan situation resolve - and the pitch there could be tricky too. Super 8 matches will throw up stiffer challenges. "We haven't had this sort of a collapse for a while. But that's cricket. The good thing is it happened in the first match itself," said Axar Patel. "The next time we experience this, we will be better for this."...