Dhawal Kulkarni
Teams: Mumbai and Mumbai Indians
For years, the Kulkarni household at Chunnabhatti in Mumbai has resembled a sports goods shop. The man of the house is a former university badminton champion, daughter a national level shooter, but it is the cricketer son with his huge kit —overflowing with pads, gloves and bats—who encroaches the most space.
An IPL stint for the junior Dhawal meant these days it is the Mumbai Indians blues that takes pride of place in the family wardrobe. It signifies the first cricketing high for the 19-year-old and the most celebrated moment for the sporting family. With just a few Ranji ODIs under his belt, Dhawal didn’t quite fancy his chances when he got invited for the Mumbai Indians net session where Sachin Tendulkar played selector. “Mera chance hai kya (do I really have a chance)?” he asked a local scribe as he waited for Sachin’s verdict.
In a few days time, the Wankhede was echoing to the chants of ‘Dhawal, Dhawal’ as the Mumbai Indians fans celebrated the young pacer. IPL has seen him spend long hours with teammate Shaun Pollock and a brief audience with Delhi’s Glenn McGrath.
Adjustments will be needed if he has to graduate from T20 to the game’s longer versions. Coach Lalchand Rajput says getting wickets in Ranji will be very different. “But Dhawal is a quick learner.”
— Devendra Pandey

Shikhar Dhawan
Teams: Delhi and Delhi Daredevils
Three years ago, Shikhar Dhawan — another player from Delhi’s renowned Sonnet Club that has produced cricketers such as Manoj Prabhakar, Ashish Nehra, Aakash Chopra, Raman Lamba, Ajay Sharma, Atul Wassan and Sanjeev Sharma — was on the verge of an India call-up. Impressing in 2004 under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh and the Challenger tournament in 2005, he was on the verge of a breakthrough. But the Delhi opener missed out by a whisker and, as often happens in Indian cricket, spiralled out of the selectors’ minds completely.
The subsequent year, he couldn’t even break into the North Zone team.
After spending two seasons in and out of the Delhi Ranji team — where he sometimes competes for slots with Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra — Shikhar reinvented his game and had finished a splendid domestic season when the IPL arrived. Now, after 335 runs in the group stages of the tournament, he has again established himself as a premier India prospect.
“I think Shikhar is in the best phase of his career. He was a bit down in between, almost went into depression when he wasn’t picked up for the Indian team but he’s come back strongly. He now believes that he can perform against the best of attacks. This IPL has given him that opportunity, and he has delivered,” says his coach Tarak Sinha.
Shikhar wears the number ‘0’ jersey in the IPL. Once the hero of the India under-19 team, he says he now understands the value of starting from scratch.
— GS Vivek

... contd.