Sunil Gavaskar, legendary former Indian cricketer showered praises on Devdutt Padikkal for his captivating T20 hundred in the Indian Premier League (IPL). On April 22, Padikkal hooked his maiden T20 century in the match against Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium. Royal Challengers Bangalore notched up a 10-wicket victory shouldering on Padikkal’s ton and Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 74.
The 20-year-old snared his maiden ton in IPL off 52 balls including six towering sixes and 11 boundaries. In the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy, in seven encounters, he knocked up 700+ runs. He instrumented four consecutive tons in the tournament and has been knocking on the doors of international cricket for quite some time now.
Devdutt Padikkal will soon play for India – Sunil Gavaskar
Speaking in the wake of his brilliant innings, Sunil Gavaskar said that it will be a shocker if Devdutt Padikkal doesn’t represent India in recent times. The young batter from Karnataka has been in superlative form and Gavaskar feels Padikkal will soon play for the country.
“Won’t be surprised if he plays for India in any of the formats because he has got the class and the ability to do that. He is a heavy scorer in first-class cricket and Ranji Trophy as well gets big hundreds. In 50-over cricket, he gets lots of runs and hundreds. Here, in the T20 domestic tournaments, he got lots of runs. So, I won’t be surprised if he is there sooner rather than later,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
The legendary batter reckoned that Karnataka has endowed India with several cricketers. He mentioned the likes of Rahul Dravid, Gundappa Vishwanath, and KL Rahul. Sunil Gavaskar also said that Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul has lacked self-confidence so far in IPL 2021.
“Sometimes you get the feeling that he (KL Rahul) doesn’t believe in himself. He is such a talented player And there is Mayank Agarwal, there is Karun Nair who got a triple hundred, he also needs to get his act together. It’s a terrific batting line-up Karnataka have,” Gavaskar added.
He deserved the century – Virat Kohli
Dedvutt Padikkal has been a serious hunt for RCB. His talent has been catchy. After being tested positive for Covid-19, Padikkal missed the opening game against Mumbai Indians. The batter was in a full swing against Rajasthan.
“We spoke about it (on the 100). He told me to finish it off, I told him to get to it first. He said many will come, I said yes you can say that after you get to the landmark. Padikkal deserved to get the three-figure mark,” Kohli told after the game.
