When Devdutt Padikkal scored 65 in his debut Test against England in Dharamsala, it was assumed that he would find a regular place in the middle order.
Things, however, turned out differently for the 25-year-old from Karnataka, who got to play only one Test in Australia. Even the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma failed to earn him a berth in the side.
However, Padikkal didn’t lose heart and had a fabulous domestic season in the Ranji Trophy — 710 runs in 10 innings at an average of over 60. The hard work done behind the scenes has been reflected in the IPL too, as he has two half-centuries in RCB’s first two matches. With a strike-rate of 201.81, he epitomises RCB’s new batting approach that blends caution with calculated aggression.
Padikkal highlighted that the change in approach stems from lessons learned last season. “Even last season we had a couple of games early on where we struggled and ended up losing maybe three or four wickets and then it put us on the back foot,” he said after their 43-run win over CSK on Sunday.
It was decided to keep wickets in hand to go all out in the end. “Once the ball gets older, it becomes much easier to bat on.”
He credited his improvement in white-ball formats to a conscious shift in mindset. “It’s a lot of hard work and self-belief. It wasn’t easy to make that change because I had to alter the foundation of the kind of cricket I wanted to play growing up,” he said.
“The change was something I had to make consciously, and RCB’s support staff have been brilliant in guiding me in the right way. Batting has gone to another level. Everyone is working hard to hit big sixes and fours.”
His approach earned praise from RCB mentor Dinesh Karthik. “First and foremost is his determination... He is very determined in what he sets out to do,” Karthik said.
“He is batting in such a manner that I am not sure you can keep him out of the Indian team for too long. He is playing proper cricketing shots and striking the ball cleanly over distance. He is a proper Test player and has accumulated more than 2,000 runs (overall) this season.”
It is now up to Padikkal to make his mark on the selectors’ mind.