Shikhar Dhawan

From the time he finished the leading run-getter at the 2004 Under-19 World Cup, many prophesied that Delhi-born Shikhar Dhawan would come good for India in the years to come. However, it didn't prove to be so easy for him largely because India's much-vaunted batting order featured Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly, and it was next to impossible to break into that team.

Yet Despite no opening in sight, Dhawan did not lose heart and kept scoring consistently in domestic cricket and his patience paid off in October 2010 when he was called up for three ODIs against Australia. As luck would have it, two games were abandoned due to rain and in the second match he made a nightmare of a debut, scoring a duck.

Dhawan's next chance came in 2011 in the West Indies where failed to impress in the four ODIs he played with scores of 51, 3, 4 and 11. After that many wrote him off, saying he didn't have the necessary fight to make it in international cricket. However, consistent performances at the domestic level helped him keep his place in India's second tier of players. All he needed was the rub of the green and that came during the 2013 Test series against Australia after an out-of-form Sehwag was axed ahead of the third Test. Handed a debut in Mohali, Dhawan stroked his way to 187 off 174 balls, in the process becoming the quickest Test debutant to a hundred – off just 85 deliveries.

Dhawan, proficient at cutting the ball hard on both sides of the wicket, hasn't looked back since then. In the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2013, he scored two tons to lead India to the trophy. The handlebar-moustached Dhawan is at present one of India's key players, and the sky seems to be the limit for him. It took some time, but Dhawan appears to be back where he belongs.