A week into the 2019 Men’s Cricket World Cup and we’ve finally had our first sighting of India, and they made an impressive start, clinically dissecting South Africa by six wickets at Southampton.

Not that we should be surprised. In the four years since Australia knocked them out in the semi-finals of the last World Cup, India have been straining every sinew to ensure they are ready to win back the trophy MS Dhoni lifted at the Wankhede Stadium in 2011. Their preparations (which reportedly included, at the BCCI’s request, a few days of extra recovery time after the IPL before they began their World Cup campaign) have been meticulous in every detail. Virat Kohli knows no other way.

That’s not to say there haven’t been hurdles along the way. The No.4 spot has been a constant headache, with 12 players filling the position since the 2015 World Cup. KL Rahul, who stroked a century in a warm-up against Bangladesh to pip Vijay Shankar to the role for their opening match against South Africa, looks the best fit so far – a player capable of upping the ante or digging in depending on the situation.

Kohli’s weapon of destruction needs no such convincing. Since taking his first steps in international cricket, and even before that in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the IPL, Bumrah has looked, despite his unorthodox, jerky action, utterly serene – a bowler in complete control of his craft, born for the environment he now finds himself in.

If Kohli told us that in a month’s time Bumrah would be named player of the World Cup, you’d be inclined to believe him.