According to Devdutt Padikkal, he was playing well in the recent home series against England that he earned his place as a tester, after performing excellently within the national borders. It gave him an assurance before making his initial test because of having accumulated several runs.
This year, Padikkal made his test debut during the series’ last match against England which was held in Dharamsala in March. The first innings saw him scoring a pretty respectable 65 off 103 while India defeated their opponents by innings and 64 runs. Revisiting his debut match with news agency PTI, the 24-year-old shared how he perceived being ready for such important task.
“To be honest, going into that game (against England), I felt ready. I felt like I had earned that spot. Obviously, I played a lot in domestic cricket that year and I got a lot of runs in the Ranji Trophy as well,” Padikkal said.
“So, once you have those runs behind you, you have that confidence. Even playing for India, it feels natural and that was the case for me. And obviously, getting that 50 (on Test debut) gave me some more confidence as well,” the left-handed batter added.
𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵!
Quite a setting! ⛰️
A special occasion to make your Test debut! 👌
From a landmark man to #TeamIndia's newest Test entrant! 👏 👏
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/jnMticF6fc #INDvENG | @ashwinravi99 | @devdpd07 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/1ihKZ1a3jD
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 7, 2024
In the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy season, the sensational Karnataka batter scored a total of 556 runs in four matches at an average of more than 93, including three centuries. Indeed, it was Padikkal’s outstanding performance in his debut Test against England that saw him hit 10 fours and a six before he was bowled out by spin bowler Shoaib Bashir.
“There’s a lot for me to learn” –Devdutt Padikkal aims to continue enhancing his skills
The forthcoming Duleep Trophy commencing on Sept 5th will have Padikkal representing Team D. The left-handed batsman expressed his desire of learning more and improving himself to elevate his level of playing.
“It’s important that I continue to improve. Obviously, Test cricket keeps challenging you. It’s a difficult format to play. So, I just have to keep focusing on things where I can improve. There’s a lot for me to learn. So, I’m continuing to work on things that I need to improve on,” the promising youngster said.
In his career so far, Padikkal has played in 32 first-class matches and 30 List-A games, accumulating 2292 runs and 1875 runs respectively. In first class competitions, he has registered six centuries while eight have been scored in the List A format.
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