Vijay hazare Trophy | Devdut Padikkal an asset to us, says Manish Pandey

Devdut Padikkal has managed to grab many eyeballs towards him after his stellar performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Captain Manish Pandey was pleased with the youngster and commented on his ability to stay at the wicket and win games for his team.

"When you see young guys like Devdutt getting the most runs in the tournament, it feels really awesome for me as a captain," Pandey said in a post-match press conference.

Devdut Padikkal's first 50 came against Hyderabad in a losing cause as the opposition managed to defend a modest total of 198. Pandey believes that that is what hurt Devdut as he could not take his team past the finishing line having been set and scored a fifty. he believed that that inning changed his approach completely and made him more focused towards playing more sensible shots and staying till the end for the team.

"I think what changed him as a batsman was definitely the Hyderabad game, the one we lost, because he was batting well till then. He was getting those fifties," Pandey said.

His concentration paid off as he scored back-to-back hundreds against Saurashtra and Goa. Pandey believes that the Hyderabad defeat has changed him as a batsman.

"I think his mindset changed (in a way that) his focus was to bat till the end and get those big hundreds for us. I think that's what has happened. That one game against Hyderabad hit him quite a bit because he was the only (remaining) batsman to bat till the end. If he had batted through, we would have won," he said.

It was a learning game for him. I'm glad he overcame that and batted the way he batted the whole tournament. I think he is a great asset to have up the order and I'm very happy with his performances," he further added.

Pandey himself has been in the reckoning for the Indian team for a long time now. he felt that his role was at number four batting till the end and giving the team a good total to defend. He is satisfied with the team's performance and is very happy with the way the season went. He is a part of India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh.

"It's a good season for me. I thought if I'm batting No.4, I had to be there till the end, take the extra responsibility for the team's cause. Little sad I didn't get to bat in the last couple of matches; I was very eager to bat. But if the taeam is doing well and the boys are scoring and performing well, I'm very happy to be sitting here with the championship," he concluded.