“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.

... contd.