India, Aug. 30 -- The 2003-04 Indian domestic season produced plenty of contenders for the national side, but one left-handed opener separated himself from almost everybody else. Across the Ranji and Duleep trophies, 1,245 runs came from just 15 innings at an extraordinary average of 103.75. There were five centuries, three of them double hundreds, while the next-highest aggregate belonged to Hrishikesh Kanitkar with 935. Gautam Gambhir, another left-handed opener attempting to break into the Indian side, finished the season with 877.

The numbers travelled with him to Africa a few months later. On an India A tour of Kenya that would become famous for accelerating MS Dhoni's rise towards international cricket, the Maharashtra opener score...