Star Indian batter Devdutt Padikkal shared his disappointment after Sri Lanka forced a draw against India in the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club, stating that it would have been better had India won the game. However, Sri Lanka made a stunning fightback to hold India to a draw in the second Test on Thursday, with Sonal Dinusha scoring a magnificent unbeaten 133. However, India won the series 1-0 after winning the first Test by 165 runs. Padikkal was named Player of the Series after scoring 328 runs in two Tests, including two centuries, at an average of 109.33.
“Yeah, it feels great. Again, it would have been better if we got the win in this game as well. But at the end of the day, I’m happy that I could contribute. [On the similarity between the Galle and SSC pitches] I think it was quite similar, to be honest. Not much change. It was pretty slow here as well. But I think at the end of the day, the batters got better at playing on such surfaces, and I think that showed in the last couple of days,” Padikkal said after the match.
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While talking about playing quality spin on slow surfaces, he said, “Yeah, definitely. It takes a lot of clarity. I think you need to have clear plans when you go out there. I think there’s been a lot of chat back in the dressing room as well as to how we want to play spin, how we want to tackle spin. I think everyone came with their own plans, and I think the way the batsmen applied themselves showed out there.”
He also opened up on returning to the Test side after being away for a while. He also talked about getting a life early in his innings and how he recovered from it as he scored a stunning hundred.
“Again, you always want to play. You want to represent your country. You have to keep working hard. That’s the only thing that’s in your control. The XI is not in your control. You have to keep trying to help your teammates out whenever you get that opportunity. You have to make sure that you’re ready for it, and I’m happy that I was able to do that,” Devdutt Padikkal said again. “Yeah, that’s part of the game. Honestly, it’s important that you forget that as fast as possible. There’s a lot of time left in the game, and it’s important that you move on to the next ball, and that’s what I tried to do.”
“Honestly, I’m just happy to score runs. It doesn’t matter where I do it. It can be at number 3. It can be anywhere else. It doesn’t matter. Honestly, for me it’s important that the team wins, and as long as I’m contributing to those wins, I’m happy. Yeah, lots of work to do. I think, as you can see, it’s a very young side. It’s important that we continue to learn. There’s a lot of evolving left to do in every single one of us, and I think everyone is really hungry and looking forward to doing that, and I’m sure we’ll continue to improve and have some good games ahead,” Devdutt Padikkal concluded.
