One of the easiest, and laziest, explanations for Saturday’s escape to victory is complacency and arrogance. It’s tempting to attribute India’s spectacular collapse to a feeling of superiority against an honest but not-too-threatening United States attack, but that can’t be farther from the truth.

As Axar Patel, the vice-captain, acknowledged more than once after the 29-run victory in their World Cup opener, this wasn’t the usual Wankhede Stadium strip, benign but true and of even bounce.