Devdutt Padikkal is looking to make a big impact in the Duleep Trophy to increase his chances of being selected for India’s middle order in the coming international season. The stylish batsman, who played his first Test match against England earlier this year, will play for Team D in the tournament starting on September 5. “Yes, the Duleep Trophy is a very important tournament,” Padikkal said in an interview with PTI on Tuesday. “There aren’t many chances at the top level, so it’s important that I keep scoring runs.”
Padikkal’s confidence comes from his strong performance in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy, where he scored 556 runs in just four matches, averaging over 93, with three centuries. Talking about his debut for India, Padikkal said, “Going into that game, I felt ready. I felt like I had earned that spot. Playing a lot of domestic cricket and scoring heavily in the Ranji Trophy gave me the confidence to perform.”
The 24-year-old player who uses his left hand for batting wants to do as well this season as he did before and thinks that getting better all the time is very important. “Playing in the Test cricket style is tough, and I have to keep working on things I can do better,” he said.
Padikkal is also trying to score more runs faster in shorter formats. “I’ve been working on being more aggressive in T20 games, and I can see I’m getting better. It’s hard, but it’s all about changing how I think,” he said. Padikkal has also had problems not related to playing, like a stomach issue that made it hard for him to play well a few seasons back. But now, he knows how to handle it and is working hard to play his best.
Padikkal is currently playing for Gulbarga Mystics in the KSCA Maharaja Trophy T20, and he’s happy with how the team is doing. He said, “We’ve played some really good cricket, and our performance has been excellent.” He’s confident about their chances as the competition continues.
He added, “Our performance has been excellent. We’ve played some really good cricket. We have some talented young players on the team. In the last few games, we’ve made some changes to try out different things.” Since they’ve already secured a spot, they want to give everyone a chance to play. He hopes that by the time the knockout rounds come, they’ll have their full team ready and will perform well.
