For instance, Mahendra Dhoni’s captaincy – be it his decision (in conjuction with fellow selectors) to retain Suresh Raina in the XI ahead of Yusuf Pathan, consequent to Virender Sehwag’s return or the bowling changes that he rung in – was top notch. The team’s fielding – so often criticised – was rung above the usual.

Zaheer Khan’s response to his captain’s call for wickets or R Ashwin’s nerveless bowling in Powerplay, Sachin Tendulkar’s intensity at the start of the run-chase, Gautam Gambhir’s sheer will power to contribute to the team’s cause despite obvious sluggishness and Raina’s maturity during his match-winning stand with Yuvraj Singh are all more cases in point.

Yet, no team can be satisfied with the old philosophy that said ‘You are as good as your last performance.’ That has to be tweaked to the present times when a team is only as good as its preparation and its current performance.

Yes, it is time to move on – not just for the Indian team as it travels to Mohali but also for fans and critics. The nature of competition in the knockout stage is such that it severely punishes teams every time for playing below par. And the converse is not always true: sides are not often rewarded for raising the bar.

The biggest challenge for the Indian team, therefore, as it prepares to take on Pakistan in its next high-voltage game is to take its collective mind off that amazing effort against Australia and move on. If the squad lingers for long in the afterglow of a fine victory in Motera, its preparations for Mohali can be affected.

I remember how, in 1996, three days after an emotionally-charged game against Pakistan in Bangalore, India capitulated in the semifinal to Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta. A lot of reasons have been attributed to that loss but I have always suspected that the team was not able to recoup its emotional energy quickly enough.

Yet, I also recall how in the span of three days India beat Australia 2-0 in the best-of-three finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series in 2008. It tells me that the modern Indian teams have evolved and can handle the task of recharging the emotional batteries quite well.

The ill-advised have been saying that skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is on trial and the team’s performance here will determine his future as helmsman. Of course, he did not seem to be his usual self in the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies but that should not take away from the fact that he has been one of the most remarkable Indian captains.

For all that, the selectors must give the skipper the squad that he deserves. While the wise men may empower him with the best XI nearly always, I am not sure they spend any time thinking about the kind of reserves who should be making up the rest of the squad. For when you speak of balance, it is not just about finding the right combination in the playing XI but also in the kind of reserves available.

We will get a good idea when we look at what happened in Zimbabwe where India had to play Naman Ojha as an opening batsman in its final game of the triseries because Murali Vijay was so out of depth in the earlier games. Now, Naman Ojha was chosen more as second wicket-keeper than a reserve specialist opener. The team management had to perforce include him in the XI because it has no option once it decided to leave Vijay to warm the benches.

I am hoping that India does not face a similar situation in the Asia Cup. If you are wondering why, you just have to look at the 11 that India is likely to field in the first game: Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Rohit, Raina, Dhoni, Jadeja, Harbhajan, Praveen, Zaheer and Nehra. The four who may sit out are Tiwary, Dinda, Ojha and Ashwin.

Does it make sense to have just one specialist batsman and three bowlers, including two spinners, among the reserves? Tamil Nadu off-spinner R Ashwin did play well on debut in India’s last match in the Zimbabwe triseries but the selectors did not really need include him in the squad for Sri Lanka. It is not as if he is going to push Harbhajan Singh for a place in the XI.

So, instead of arming the captain with better options, the selectors may have only hamstrung him a fair bit.

There is one more thought that the recent selections have sparked in my mind: It is time to stop pretending that IPL should be seen as a stepping stone to the Indian one-day international team. A series of lusty blows or a few good overs in IPL games should not be misconstrued as ability to do well in the longer version of the game as well.  Even if cricket is simply a contest between bat and ball, each format calls upon different temperaments and that is something that the selectors must keep in mind when picking Indian teams.

You will hear a cacophony if the team does not live up to expectations – and as a nation, even if we do not usually excel in everything we do, we expect the cricketers to deliver only victories and not fall short. And at that time, with the whole focus on Dhoni and not the selectors, everyone will display a herd mentality and bay for blood. The good thing is: This time around, the cacophony will be drowned by the magical notes flowing from the football carnival in the rainbow nation.

For unabashed Tendulkar fans, it was a day to celebrate the little big man’s maiden one-day international hundred in the land where he opened the innings for the first time in 1994, thanks to a crick in Navjot Singh Sidhu’s neck. The controlled manner in which he crafted his innings was a delightful lesson.

Some years ago, when Tendulkar played one of his trademark innings, you would find it hard to remember much else but Sunday was different. The little big champion paced his innings so well that it was another special knock. Yet, Yuvraj Singh’s clean strikes and Suresh Raina’s clinical demolition claim their own place in our mind space

Raina walked in when Tendulkar retired with five overs left with the score at 338. Raina lost no time in joining the run feast and made 38 runs off 18 deliveries as India added 64 runs in the span of the five overs. This was a perfect example of a batsman understanding his responsibilities and ensuring that the team derived the maximum benefit.

The manner in which he hit Tim Southee for four sixes in two successive overs also spoke about his confidence in his abilities to deliver the big blows almost at will. It is such skill that stops him from being dwarfed in the presence of Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Not too long ago, he was readily cast aside as coach Greg Chappell’s chosen one. But he was back when Dhoni assumed captaincy and he has not let the skipper down. He did not get to play any game in the Commonwealth Bank series in Australia as Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa got to play all 10 games that India featured in.

Since the time he has come back to the XI, Raina has played 27 games and he has produced a score of 50-plus once in three games. He has shown that he can adapt, batting fairly well at No. 3, better at No. 4 and as a wonderful finisher lower down the order, taking our minds back to talk of him as the Michael Bevan of the Indian team.

It is not important for us to see Raina as anyone else but as Raina himself, a special talent who has raised the bar and has succeeded thus far. He has known the pain of being out of the side and has worked hard to show that he deserves to be in the one-day squad on the strength of his merit and his consistency alone.

The 22-year-old’s next challenge will be to eliminate the string of early exits that have also punctuated his career in the past eight or nine months. Of course, no batsman can ensure that he succeeds every time but Raina can work to reduce the frequency with which he has got out early.

Two close contests in the T20 format and two successive defeats for Team India at the start of its tour of New Zealand. Yet, unlike many others, I don’t believe the team’s morale will have taken a body blow as it heads into the five match one-day international series against the Black Caps.

Of course, India’s strokeplayers – up against a steady and resilient bowling attack, led by the crafty Daniel Vettori – let the team down in both games. If they learnt any lessons from the seven-wicket loss in Christchurch, it was not in great evidence in Wellington on Friday.

Then again, there are positives that the team can take into the one-day series. The most important thing is that Team India has had a good look at the Black Caps – something that had not happened since September 2005 when the sides played the final of a trination event in Harare. The ICC World T20 in 2007 clash was the only meeting since then.

Virender Sehwag got off to flying starts in both games while Suresh Raina, in the first game, and Yuvraj Singh on Friday picked up half-centuries that will instill confidence in the ranks. Admittedly, the batsmen will have to do a great deal better in the five ODIs if they are to sustain the development of Team India as a competitive unit.

India’s experienced bowlers, paceman Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh how found a rhythm that augurs well for the side but yes, there is work to be done as far Zaheer’s bowling partners are concerned. Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan came up a bit short of expectations in the T20s and will have to adapt sooner than later.

There has been a marked reluctance to use Virender Sehwag as a support off-spinner to Harbhajan Singh. I believed that he would have bowled as well as Harbhajan Singh and the rookie left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. I wonder why Dhoni has kept Sehwag’s bowling under the wraps.

Here’s how the team stacked up in the two T20 games.

Gautam Gambhir: His twin failures should help him learn to wait to assess bounce and movement before playing his strokes. There is no doubt that he has it in him to succeed in the ODIs.

Virender Sehwag: Will need to stretch his good starts into long innings and not gift his wicket away. It is clear that the Black Caps are bowling to a plan, feeding off his strengths.

Suresh Raina: After playing a mature hand in the opening game when he made an unbeaten half-century, the left-hander made things difficult for his team by throwing his wicket in the second match. Will have to be consistent in his approach and performance.

Yuvraj Singh: Has appeared to win a battle with New Zealand captain and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori when he struck him for two sixes in Wellington after being dismissed second ball in the first match. Can be a big factor in the ODIs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Has yet to find his timing with the bat, though he made an unbeaten 28 in Wellington. As someone who has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to the situation, he was unable to provide the thrust in the second game.

Rohit Sharma: Will have only himself to blame for losing his place in the XI for the second game after playing an ambitious stroke in Christchurch

Ravindra Jadeja: Did his bit with the bat in the second game when he replaced Rohit Sharma in the XI and was more than a handy left-arm spin bowler as he helped Harbhajan Singh bring India back into the game. Sadly for him, he will return home.

Yusuf Pathan: Despite being foxed by Daniel Vettori in the second T20 contest, he will remain an important finisher in the ODIs but he will have to find the balance between unbridled attack and defence

Irfan Pathan: His inability to generate noticeable swing with the new ball in the second T20 game will be a matter of concern, even if he claimed two wickets off successive balls to infuse life into India’s campaign and make the match exciting.

Harbhajan Singh: Few will believe that the off-spinner is coming off an injury that kept him out of the one-day series in Sri Lanka. He has shown mastery over his craft, tying the Black Caps’ batsmen down in both games. And can be a huge factor in the ODIs.

Zaheer Khan: Has shown that he is an eager and thinking leader of the bowling back and a willingness to give up the honour of bowling the first over to Irfan Pathan in a bit to ensure that the fellow left-arm swing bowler could find his rhthym.

Ishant Sharma: Had a memorable start, picking up Jesse Ryder’s wicket with his first delivery in New Zealand but has done little justice to his talent after his appeal for leg before wicket off the next ball – against Martin Guptill – was turned down in Christchurch. He will have to hit the right length to be effective in New Zealand.

There is no point in telling themselves: “We are like this only.” In the run up to the opening game of the tour, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had talked about adopting an assess-and-adapt strategy but, barring Suresh Raina’s display, the tactic remained on paper and was not in evidence in Christchurch.

Brendon McCullum did offer them a good look at how the innings needed to be structured. The Black Caps’ wicket-keeper curbed his natural instinct for strokes and stayed through the successful chase. It was interesting to note that he termed his own knock ‘ugly’ since he did not get used to the pace of the track.

Gautam Gambhir attempted to swat on the leg-side but the ball was dropped short and kept low enough to hit the top of the middle-stump. In O’Brien’s next over, Virender Sehwag tried to find the short boundary on the leg-side, missed the line and ended up losing his leg-stump. India should have quickly redrawn its approach.

Rohit Sharma flicked Ian Butler for a six over long leg and in trying to repeat the shot – but to a delivery that was kept short and perhaps stopped on him a but – he ended up skying a catch off the leading edge to the gully area, allowing wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum ample time to get under it.

Yuvraj Singh, who had just come to the crease, sought to sweep a ball that was in line with the stumps and was done in by the extra pace of Daniel Vettori’s arm ball. India’s chances of putting up more than fighting total hinged on how well and how long Dhoni could embrace the nip and tuck approach but that was not to be.

It was at this stage that Yusuf Pathan committed hara kiri. Even though his mis-hits clear the ground, he should have been restraining himself after clouting three sixes off successive deliveries from off-spinner Nathan McCullum. It was important that he stayed at the wicket longer since India had lost half the side inside eight overs.

For the second time, New Zealand bowlers had been allowed to bounce back after being struck for three sixes off successive deliveries. It not only showed how the Indian batsmen were intent on unleashing their penchant for the extravagant strokes but also how New Zealand kept its nerve under pressure.

Yes, the ‘rockstars’ will have to learn their lessons quickly.

Dhoni has again reiterated the importance of the assess-and-adapt tactic. “One area we need to improve upon is analysing the situation. One thing for sure is we have learnt a lot from our mistakes. We are a good side that learns very quickly,” he said. “We have youngsters who are willing to learn from the mistakes fortunately, if we don’t commit these mistakes again we have a very good chance.”

India’s fans will hope that Dhoni’s team-mates will not prove him wrong again.