I think till then I wasn’t that secure, to be very honest. I always felt if I didn’t get runs in one or two innings, I’d be dropped to make another comeback. But after the Twenty20 World Cup, one thing that really changed was that I got that feeling of security, and since then I think things have gone in my favour. One turning point in my career was the CB series in Australia.

•You got two hundreds in that series.

I got two hundreds, I was the highest run-getter in the tri-series. If someone goes to Australia for the first time and ends up being the highest run-getter in the CB Series, it gives confidence. I took that confidence forward through the year. I think a lot of credit goes to the CB Series for the way I performed last year.

•You know you say something very interesting for someone so young that it is tough to go out there with insecurity on your mind.

Never nice. Whoever plays for the country should always have that sense of security. They should feel themselves as part of the side and they should never play for themselves. Once you start playing for yourself then the only thing which is on your mind is to play for a place in the side, which is not good for anyone.

•I have been speaking to some of your seniors, and they have all said to me one thing that ‘‘when Gautam came into play we were so pleasantly surprised to see a youngster who played for the team. We never saw him play for himself’’.

... contd.