India, Sept. 19 -- Long before an India cap arrived, the weight of runs had become impossible to ignore. There had been seasons of sustained accumulation, the extraordinary symmetry of 99 and 99 not out in the same Ranji Trophy match, a double-century, India A recognition and, eventually, a hundred against a touring Australian side. By the late 1990s, this was no precocious talent being advanced on promise. He had spent the better part of a decade building a case for international cricket, one innings at a time.

Then came something even more unusual. India included the left-hander in their preliminary plans for the 1999 World Cup before he had played a single ODI. His reputation had travelled ahead of him. When the international debut fi...