Star India batter Devdutt Padikkal sees his elevation to India A captain as more than an opportunity to lead. For him, it is another chance to learn, adapt, and keep evolving his game. However, Padikkal will lead India A against Australia in two red-ball matches in Puducherry from September 22, with the tournament coming at an important stage of his development ahead of India’s upcoming tour of New Zealand as well.
“It’s a great opportunity to be captain of India A. I’m looking forward to it. I think leadership is something that I really enjoy doing, especially starting off with Karnataka last year,” Padikkal told select media. “It was a great learning curve for me, so I’m really looking forward to carrying that experience to India A as well.”
However, Padikkal first got the captaincy with Karnataka in last season’s Ranji Trophy and quickly showed that the added responsibility did not weigh him down as well. In a must-win group game against Punjab in Mohali, he hit an 85-ball 120 as Karnataka chased down 250 in just 28 overs to seal their place in the quarterfinals as well.
“Personally, I enjoy captaincy. That’s just an added responsibility to go out there and make sure that I’m helping the side. I’ve always played cricket that way. I’ve always wanted to make sure that the team wins. As a captain, that’s your sole focus. You want to make the team win. That just helps my batting even further,” he expressed.
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That mindset will now be tested against an Australia side in the India A series as well, with Devdutt Padikkal looking to use the series as another opportunity to grow.
“It always feels great to get some runs. I think the purpose behind coming here was to try and help the South Zone win, but obviously that couldn’t happen. But personally I’m happy with the fact that I was able to get some time out there and hopefully I can continue that. It’s a constant learning curve. There’s a lot of things that I’ve learnt throughout the season. I think more technically than mentally. There were a few changes that I needed to make to evolve as a batter in the last season or so,” he stated.
However, his next challenge will be New Zealand, where conditions are likely to demand another adjustment as well.
“We’re playing in different conditions. Obviously, Sri Lanka and Chennai were quite similar. But moving forward, going to New Zealand as well, it’ll be interesting to see how I can adapt to different conditions. It takes a lot of hard work to go through the domestic grind. There is a lot of high-quality cricket going on in the domestic circuit. I think it’s not always noticed, especially when you look at the Duleep Trophy, the amount of quality that is there,” he expressed.
“There is a lot of hard work that goes in day in, day out to make sure that you are constantly performing after every game,” Padikkal said. “So, doing that is not very easy and it takes a lot of effort and commitment. At the end of the day, when that gets noticed and you get picked for the side, it’s a really gratifying experience,” he added.
“There’s always been tough competition for spots in Indian cricket. It has never really come down and it’s always going to be the same. It’s important that we don’t focus too much on that and just continue to enjoy my batting. As long as I’m scoring runs, I’m happy,” Devdutt Padikkal concluded.
