India, Sept. 3 -- For years after Sunil Gavaskar, India kept searching for somebody who could make opening the batting feel settled rather than temporary. By early 2002, they seemed to have found one. Eighteen Tests had brought 1,202 runs at 40.06, a century in only his third match, runs in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and South Africa, and enough technical assurance for him to be described as one of India's most dependable opening options.

Five Tests changed almost everything. Then came the crueller part. After losing his place, the discarded opener responded in England with 250 from 380 balls. It was the sort of innings that should have reopened the door to Test cricket. Instead, another batter had begun redefining what India expected from an o...