As Marco Jansen ran in to bowl the last ball of the 16th over in the fourth T20I in Johannesburg, there was a strange curiosity. In the first five deliveries, he had not conceded a single boundary. Another such delivery would make it the first boundary-less over since the opening over of the innings. And the first since the eighth to not feature a six.
It wasn't to be. Tilak Varma got underneath the full-length ball and deposited it into the stands beyond deep midwicket. That it was a free hit did not help either. But then India treated all 20 overs of their innings as slog overs, and posted a gargantuan 283 for 1, the fifth-highest total in men's T20Is. Tilak finished with an unbeaten 120 off 47 balls, his second successive century. Sanju Samson, after two ducks in the last two games, smashed 109 not out off 56 to make it three hundreds in five outings. Abhishek Sharma, who was dismissed in the sixth over, contributed 36 off 18.
This was a game of such glorious absurdities that Samson, with a strike rate of 194.64, was the slowest of the three India batters. Jansen, who went for 10.50 an over, was the most economical of the seven bowlers South Africa used.
If India were caught in a perfect storm during their infamous 36 all out in Adelaide, South Africa were hit by its batting equivalent on Friday. The Wanderers is at a height of 1.8km from the sea level, the air so thin that the cliche "when they hit, it stays hit" is probably truer here than at any other international ground. The small square boundaries, 62 and 66 metres, further aided batters.
South Africa, too, shot themselves in the foot by failing to grab their chances. Abhishek was dropped on the first ball he faced and Tilak was put down twice. Apart from that, multiple mishits landed safely.
But make no mistake, a total of such magnitude would not have been possible without batters' skills, and Abhishek, Samson and Tilak showed plenty of it. After an uncharacteristic slow start of 10 off nine balls, Abhishek hit Andile Simelane for three sixes in one over. For the first and the third, he charged down the track, gave himself room and launched Simelane over extra cover.
Samson's method was exactly the opposite. He went deep in his crease and converted even marginally short balls into boundary opportunities. The two shots in Gerald Coetzee's opening over exemplified it. There was not much wrong with Coetzee's length on either occasion. Still, Samson managed to pull him over deep midwicket and then cut him past point.
Tilak's approach was closer to Samson's than Abhishek's. He bent his left leg and leaned backwards to get underneath the ball and find elevation. Often, he ended up with his back knee almost touching the ground.
Samson and Tilak dominated not only their favourable match-ups but also the supposedly unfavourable ones. Samson crunched Keshav Maharaj inside-out for four twice; Tilak hit Aiden Markram for 4, 6, 6, 4 off successive balls.
The duo took India to 200 in just 14.1 overs, their ninth total of 200 or more in 2024. No team has had more in a single year. India hit 23 sixes during their innings, the most in a T20I involving two Full Members. Their 135-run victory meant they finished the year with 24 wins in 26 T20Is, a win percentage of 92.3 - the best ever for a Full Member who played at least ten T20Is in a year.
These are staggering numbers. But until a year ago, India were hardly the trendsetters in T20Is. Despite owning the world's best T20 league, their only World Cup title in the format had come before the IPL came into existence. Then, at the start of 2024, in desperation to end their ICC trophy drought, they finally embraced T20 cricket. Winning the T20 World Cup in June was a just reward.
The change that was initiated by Rohit Sharma is being carried forward by the current lot. This is the first generation that did not grow up trying to keep their shots down. These guys have been training to hit sixes on demand for years now, and they don't have the unlearning to do which the older generation did.
At the same time, the team management has backed the players, which is essential given the high-risk nature of this style of cricket. Despite his failures in Sri Lanka, Samson was told that he would play the next seven games. When Tilak asked to be promoted to No. 3, captain Suryakumar Yadav did not take long to sacrifice his spot.
This is also the closest India have come to recognising that T20 is a different sport and not just a different format. Barring a name or two, their T20I batting line-up is completely different from the one in Tests and ODIs.
Another thing that has helped Indian batters unlock their latent potential is the Impact Player rule in the IPL. The cushion of an extra batter allowed them to attempt what they were previously afraid of. The IPL may or may not do away with the rule in the future, but it has changed the mindset of the batters forever.
And that changed mindset is changing the trajectory of India's T20 cricket and taking it to new, untouched heights.