Skipper Rohit Sharma was in his element while Dinesh Karthik provided the final flourish as India scored a competitive 190 for six against the West Indies in the first T20 International here on Friday and then the bowlers produced a combined performance to restrict the hosts to 122 for 8 in their 20 overs. With an outstanding all-round show, Men in Blue won the first match by 68 runs to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
The Indian captain who endured a barren spell in the shortest format since the IPL, has changed his game since the England T20s, and provided glimpses of his vintage self with some breathtaking shots on way to a 64 off 44 balls.
Karthik, the team's designated finisher, justified his billing with a blazing, unbeaten 19-ball 41 cameo, as 52 runs came off the last four overs in a seventh-wicket stand with Ravichandran Ashwin (13 not out).
On a track where there was slow spongy bounce, most of the top-order batters were dismissed playing poor shots, even as the skipper carried on at the other end for his 27th half-century in this format.
In the process, he reclaimed his position as the highest run-getter (3443 runs) in T20Is from Martin Guptill (3399 runs).
His innings had seven fours and two sixes --- a lofted shot dancing down the track off Jason Holder and a short-arm pull off Alazarri Joseph.
There were some delectable boundaries too -- a back-cut, a cover drive and a deliberate glide over short third-man to enthral a sizeable Indian crowd present at the Brian Lara Stadium.
After being put into bat, Suryakumar Yadav's elevation at the top of the order showed that coach Rahul Dravid is still looking at other options as Rohit's opening partner, despite Rishabh Pant looking comfortable as an opener.
To be fair, Surya didn't do all that badly and he showed intent during his 16-ball 24, which included a breathtaking six -- a swivel of hips to send a rising delivery behind the square -- besides three boundaries.
But, while trying to whip left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein through mid-wicket, all Surya managed was a thick outside edge to short third man.
A lot of credit should go to Hosein, who was brought well inside the powerplay and did a brilliant job with figures of 1 for 14, including 14 dot balls.
It was Hosein, who didn't let Rohit tee off during that phase while Shreyas Iyer (0), Pant (14 off 12 balls) and Hardik Pandya (1) didn't get too many at the other end.
It was left to Karthik, the eternal "20-ball man", who smashed four fours and two sixes in a 360-degree display of shot-making.
We're never conservative: Rohit
Captain Rohit Sharma believes the new fearless approach adopted by India in the shortest format will result in occasional failures but disagrees that they were playing "conservative" cricket during last year's T20 World Cup in UAE.
Rohit said the new approach provides more freedom to players, which has yielded success after the disappointing World Cup campaign, where India were eliminated in the league stage.
"We didn't get the result from the last World Cup but that doesn't mean we played bad cricket all these years and I don't agree we were playing conservative cricket," Rohit said ahead of the five-match T20 series.
"If you lose one or two matches in the World Cup, it feels like we were doing this and that, we were not taking our chances. It's not like that. If you look at the overall games that we have played leading into the World Cup, we won 80 per cent of our games.
"If we were conservative, how can we win so many matches? That's fine that we lost in the World Cup, didn't qualify but that happens. That doesn't mean we are playing with fear, not playing openly.
"Lately, we haven't made any changes, we are doing the same things but the players have been given some freedom to go out and play their own game. Play openly, no need to take any undue pressure, if you play freely, performances will show."
Rohit said change is the only constant and the Indian team and its fans too have to move on with time.
"There are bound to be occasional failures in the way we are playing cricket now, results will not be in our favour but there is no problem in it because we are trying to learn something and trying something different.
"So, there are scope for mistakes but that doesn't mean the boys are bad, the team is bad. It's just that we are trying to do something new. Everyone has to change with time, we are changing so I think people sitting outside also need to change their thinking."
The India skipper said the team for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia is more or less settled with only a few spots up for grabs.
"There are a few spots in the team which we need to fill and we know what we need to do fill those spots. We are trying to address these things in all these matches we are playing now."
"Every series that you play is crucial. Of course there are World Cups to look after but every series you play for India is crucial because there is something to look forward to all the time. What we achieved in England was special but that's done and we just want to look forward now."