Vijay Hazare Trophy | Have grown a lot since Ranji debut, attests Devdut Padikkal

After an impressive debut Ranji season, he was the highest run-getter in thew Karnataka T20 league with 310 runs from 8 matches at a healthy strike rate of 135.37. In the current Vijay Hazare Trophy, he has already scored two hundreds and three half-centuries, showing that he is versatile enough to adjust to all three formats of the game. He has amassed 456 runs in eight matches with an average of 72.00 in the league stage of the One Day tournament. 

“I have grown a lot as a player since my Ranji debut,” Padikkal told Sportstar after Karnataka's win over Goa.

“It has been an amazing journey. It has been a natural progression. I have not jumped age groups. I have played across all age groups and progressed well. I feel it’s time to step up further and reach the next level,” he further added.

Padikkal was privileged to get a chance to represent the Karnataka Ranji team at the age of 18. But he also knew that in a competitive team like Karnataka, he had to keep on performing to make sure he makes the playing eleven. This was the added motivation that drove him to mature quickly and work hard on his game.

“Karnataka is such a prestigious state to play for and it is not easy. But I am enjoying the challenge. It is important to make your opportunities count. Someone is waiting for you to flop or fail so that they can come into the side. This just drives and pushes me to do more,” he said.

His main focus is to make sure he does not throw his wickets away and that he converts the starts into big hundreds. He also explained that seniors like Manish Pandey and KL Rahul advise him to maintain composure and be calm enough and develop the patience to bat for long periods of time.

"I knew they [big scores] would come eventually, but I wanted to get them now because I am batting very well. I got those scores in the last two games [103 n.o. vs. Saurashtra & 102 n.o. vs. Goa] and now I know that I am capable of doing it in every innings,” he said.

“Having their (Pandey and Rahul's) experience in the middle helps. If I look like throwing my wicket away, they tell me what to do. And I have been with Yere Goud sir (Karnataka coach) since the U-16 days. It’s a really friendly environment and I am enjoying it,” he concluded.