This is a dream team for a coach and a captain - Rahul

Man-of-the-series performance with the bat; comfort-zone as an opener; the license to smash oppositions to a pulp in the powerplay. And yet, KL Rahul exhibits no anxiety and takes his challenges as they come, choosing to bask in the glory of a rare cleansweep away from home, rather than prematurely stress himself out about his change of role, playing in the middle-order in the upcoming ODIs.

"I haven't really thought about it(batting in the middle-order in the ODIs) yet. Travelling and winning a series 5-0 doesn't happen often, so we're just going to enjoy that for the next couple of days; put our feet up and relax for a little while."

India's second interim skipper was, however, composed in expressing his confidence, albeit in his signature monotone, that India had the backing of a series of positive results and good form over the recent past, and that every member was clear about his role in the side.

"Obviously we have the confidence, we have been doing well (in ODIs) and the recent form in the last 3-4 months has been great too. Personally and as a team we have been performing phenomenally well. We don't really plan much. All of us know what we need to do, all of us know what our strengths are so we try to stick to our strengths."

After Rohit Sharma's injury while batting, Rahul was made the stand-in captain of the side whilst on the field, and he expectedly sounded exhilarated at the idea of leading his country for the first time - particularly in a tight run-chase and a nail-biting finish.

"It was a special feeling, leading your country is always the second dream - the first one's of course to play for your country," said Rahul, swelling with uncontainable pride. "It was unfortunate what happened to Rohit. Every day I wake up, everyday I'm thrown a new responsibility. I'm very grateful and I'm loving the challenges being thrown at me. It was great to see how we responded without our main leaders - Rohit and Virat."

Speaking of the scarcity of opportunities in the fiercely competitive atmosphere in India, Rahul spoke about cherishing the opportunities and enjoying being at the centre with relative indifference to the result of the game, which allows for a balance of aggression, enjoyment, and the ability to raise intensity at the right moments.

"It's not easy to get chances at this level of cricket, and you start to comprehend that after 2-3 years of international cricket, that you have to utilise your chances to the fullest. The talent and the competition in our country doesn't warrant too many chances, and we all understand that in the team. We are aggressive on the field, but we also have smiling faces in the middle, because we want to be there, we want to be out there in a win or a loss and just enjoy the game of cricket and give it all we have."

Rahul attributed a lot of his success to his dressing room idols: "When there are players like Virat and Rohit in the dressing room, you don't need to look too far for inspiration. Jasprit, too, is an inspiration to the guys in the dressing room due to his consistency and his performances."

After five years in the international circuit, Rahul is one of the more senior members of the side, and describes the dressing room atmosphere as one of unity and brotherhood, with every member focused on a common goal.

"We're a young team, love spending time with each other, and there is absolutely no divide between the seniors and the juniors. We all have a common goal - to win games of cricket. We are all focused on winning the (T20) World Cup - that's a common goal, and we're trying to maximise our preparations for the World Cup."

Capping off a long T20I season, Rahul is all praise about the Indian team and their performances in the format, and sees India's ability to hold on in pressure situations as, by far, the most discernible bullet point in the pros column.

"There have been so many positives. I can go on and on about how brilliantly we have performed. It's not like we have just walked into a game and just beaten a side easily and gotten away. We have been challenged each day and the way have always found answers in the middle and remained calm has been the biggest takeaway," said Rahul, picking out the composure of the team in key moments as the main positive after a prolonged T20I season, in preparation for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. "Every month we are playing so much, it's hard on the body as well, and for everyone to stay fit mentally and physically and perform like this is phenomenal. This team is a coach's dream and a captain's dream."

India's captain for the second innings also ran through his captaincy method, and credited the bowlers for being independent, thinking entities, setting their own fields, as opposed to being the captain's puppets and taking the pressure off the skipper.

"(About the bowling) I can't do much from behind the stumps. They come up with their own plans, they set their own fields, and more often than not, they have executed what they wanted to do. In a T20 you're bound to go for runs at times, but the way they've held their nerve, it's amazing to see. We've seen Yuzi and Bumrah. They're seniors now, but even Saini, Shardul and Washy - any responsibility they're given, more often than not, they come through, and that's very heartening to see. The bowlers are being fearless, not scared of being hit, and bluffing batsmen, which is very important in T20 cricket. You need to have skill to represent your country, but the execution and the calmness has been amazing to see."

When asked to pick out the opposition's best player in a closely-contested series, Rahul was quick to point at the New Zealand captain and ex-Sunrisers teammate Kane Williamson, in whom, Rahul sees an uncanny reflection of his playing style.

"Kane Williamson was extremely impressive. It's not the first time we're seeing this, we've watched him in the IPL too. He's a very versatile player and playing cricketing shots, he can still strike at 180-200, and do the damage, and that's extremely pleasing to see. I've spent a lot of time with him in 2014-15 when we were both playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, and I spent a lot of time talking about batting, and I felt that our batting style was fairly similar. It's a treat to watch him bat, but we don't want to be treated to his innings in the ODIs," Rahul said with a cheeky smile.

When faced with a real stumper about his chances in the T20 World Cup, Rahul was taken aback, but composed himself to shoot a witty comeback, and expressed his gratefulness towards the coaching staff and the captain.

"I hope so. It's a confidence booster for me that the coaches, the captain and the support staff believe in me, and that they see me fit for any situation. That gives me confidence as a player. It's important to be in the best possible mindset to deliver for the team."

The Indian side is set to play three ODIs from the 5th to the 11th of February, the first of them in Hamilton, before moving on to the two-Test series, starting on February 21.