World T20: In Trial by Spin, How Kane Williamson Check Mated Mahendra Singh Dhoni

The phrase 'horses for courses' can quite simplify New Zealand's unexpected victory over one of the World T20 favourites India. New Zealand chose a side that was just perfect for the conditions at hand in Nagpur and India didn't.

Kumar Sangakkara so aptly put to NDTV, "They always come prepared for tournaments. That's there hallmark." And the Kiwis came fully-prepared for the trial by on a vicious Nagpur pitch. (After Loss to NZ, India's Chances of Winning World T20 Fall Dramatically)

New Zealand chose a risky game plan and came out trumps.

Dropping your two main strike bowlers -- Tim Southee and Trent Boult -- and picking unheralded spinners against some of the best batsmen against spin was quite a poker move.

And therein lay Mahendra Singh Dhoni's folly of not changing a side which isn't broke against choosing horses-for-courses. ('Night of Humiliation')

The trump card -- Pawan Negi!

A spinner with a hitting prowess versus a medium pacer with a hitting prowess on a rank-turner in Nagpur. Hardik Pandya out, Negi in! Dhoni should have assessed that and made the change.

The Kiwis did! The name Mitchell Santner was still heard off -- one of the highly-rated Black Cap but Ish Sodhi?

With all due respect to Ish Sodhi, the leg spinner hailing from Punjab was a name most Indian batsmen would have overlooked in the team sheet. He took three for three for 18!

Sangakkara highlighted the fact that having a wrist spinner made the difference.

"They had a wrist spinner. A wrist spinner will extract more turn than a normal spinner. As the game went on the leg spinner became a vital arsenal for the Kiwis. Some of his deliveries were turning, some were not and it never allowed the Indian batsmen to get into any rhythm," said the former Sri Lanka skipper and a national selector. (How a Spin Gamble Paid Off For Kiwis)

These words must be ringing in Dhoni's ear.

There is no questioning Pandya's performance in the past two months. He has been brilliant for India.

In Australia, he made an eye-catching debut and backed that up with some sterling performances in the Asia Cup T20.

But those weren't pitches, which were turning from ball one. In fact, inexplicably, Bangladesh had green tops, which would make some of the West Indian greats drool with envy.

Even the away team knew picking spinners on that pitch was a no brainer. Then, how did the Indian think-tank made this grave error?

Negi would have been a better option - bowling-wise - for India than Pandya. Plain and simple!

However, Dhoni and the Indian management either failed to see that or were just too stuck up with the notion of not wanting to 'change a winning formula'.