That was after Bangladesh 2004, when he alone had scored as many runs as everyone else in the team put together.

The next year, he was amongst the runs in his maiden Ranji Trophy season, represented India A, and scored a century in the Challenger Trophy playing for India Seniors.

Unfortunately for him, that was his closest association with the big boys before he was lost in transition.

Another Delhiite, Mayank Tehlan, represented India in the 2006 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Virender Sehwag’s cousin, Tehlan’s flamboyant off-side play brought him out of that massive shadow. A match-winning knock in the quarter-finals capped a great season, one where he had scored a majestic 176 on Ranji debut. He had arrived on the big stage. Or so he thought.

Four years hence, the left-handed opener and right-handed middle-order bat are back again, rising from the dust — this time without the ‘under-19 superstar’ tag.

2004: Dhawan; 2006: Tehlan. Is there a lesson in here for Virat Kohli and Pradeep Sangwan? Shikhar and Mayank vouch for the fact that the under-19 bubble burst very soon — either due to a lack of opportunities in the next phase or inconsistent performances at the Ranji level.

“I was a bit disappointed when I was left out of the 25 probables chosen under Greg Chappell despite doing well right from the under-19 World Cup to the Challenger trophy,” Dhawan said.

“In my second season, just one bad tour against Australia ‘A’ and I didn’t get even a place in the Challengers, and didn’t make it the Duleep Trophy side. It was depressing and it took me some time to come out of it.

“My own form in that season dwindled... In the first season, nobody knows you and you tend to get away with a few things, but in your second season, every opposition knows your strengths and weaknesses. I suddenly found the Ranji Trophy very difficult,” Dhawan said.

There was also the fact that he was competing for overcrowded positions — against the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly for a place in the main side and Aakash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa in the A side.

“Now I’ve worked on my game and am more focused. But I realise that I failed to cash in on the under-19 platform,” he said.

Mayank too hit a wall. He didn’t make it to the Duleep Trophy side despite his hundred on debut (everyone else from that under-19 side were playing for their zones).

The following season, his place in the Delhi team was still wobbly despite a double hundred, as he was unable to budge the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir and Chopra among others to cement a place in the line-up.

“I never got the hype of any under-19 player despite reaching the finals. I didn’t get a look-in for any Challengers and wasn’t even considered for the Duleep Trophy,” Tehlan said.

“I was a bit inconsistent, of course, but that can happen to any player who is finding his feet in domestic cricket. But I never had the cushion of having done well in the under 19s.

“And the fact that I was playing for Delhi meant I was always fighting for a spot with big names in my team,” he said.

As of now, Mayank is waiting for his next big assignment — the IPL — to carry on the good work he’s done this season.

After the U-19 World Cup win in Malaysia, both Kohli and Sangwan have got their share of the spotlight, as has the rest of the squad. But in the ensuing season, the two have a big task of taking the under-19 success to the domestic level and consistently making cases for themselves.

There’s no immediate place in the senior side, and the sooner they realise success doesn’t come easy, the better.