“Riyan started so young, you forget that he was 17 or something, playing in one of the toughest spots in a batting line-up of No 6. You look at the characters who finish games around the IPL, they are generally pretty experienced guys,” he said.

“(The) Tim Davids, (the) Dave Millers… these are high quality players who play international cricket. Riyan has been tasked with that for a number of years. He is still a very young man, but he has got this wealth of experience behind him now.

“We are getting the best of him. The investment that RR have made of him, it’s starting to reap the rewards. It is pretty exciting what he could offer for the rest of the season for us.”

Bond also felt “selfless” Yuzvendra Chahal, who produced a measly spell of 4-0-11-3 to set up Rajasthan’s win on Monday, could be back in India reckoning if he continues to deliver.

“The competition is pretty tough, so one of the real challenges for any bowler coming into this tournament is to forget that there is a World Cup, and you start bowling to get into a World Cup team,” he said.

“If your team is successful, you are in a winning team, selections and rewards come from that. That has more of been our focus, to forget about all that other noise from the outside and just work really hard for each other.

“If we do that, I have got no doubt people are going to start talking like you are now about Chahal and whether he will feature in a World Cup or not. He is bowling beautifully, and if he keeps doing that, then we have got a massive chance in this tournament,” he added.

Bond said having knowledge about opposition players also helps in making strategies for his current team.

“When you have obviously spent so much time with certain players, watched them every day and talked to them about their game and the way that they see the game, that definitely helps,” he said.

“It was quite fun being on the other side of the team. A couple of dismissals, you get a lot of satisfaction from that.”

MI pacer Akash Madhwal said a fresh pitch at the Wankhede Stadium assisted bowlers in the first game but maintaining tight lines was equally crucial.

“We had to get our basics right and had to bowl in the line of the stumps. The pitch had some help for the fast bowlers,” said Madhwal, who returned 3/20.