“Two no-balls in a game is unheard of for him. So I would put it down to the fact that he’s not as ready as he would want to be. But if we look closely, his first and last overs were very good. However, the second and third overs had no-balls in it and that reflects in his analysis, as those were huge overs,” he added.

Bhuvneshwar’s figures at the end of the game read 4-0-49-0.

“A lot of fans may be critical, but it’s his first day back in international cricket. So cut him some slack. But he has to be aware that no-balls are not a habit he wants to develop. He knows he’s better than that. But was he as good as he could be? Definitely not,” said Karthik

However, despite his poor performance Sanju Samson’s half-century and a masterful finishing act by Naman Dhir helped India beat New Zealand by four wickets.

Samson and Abhishek carried forward their strong form in the home T20I series that India played in the months leading up to this series, putting together an opening stand of 93 runs in just under six overs. It ended with Abhishek falling to an off-spinner again, a problem that has plagued him in recent games. This time, it was to Michael Bracewell off the penultimate ball of the powerplay after Abhishek had scored 29 in 12 balls.