In order to keep himself competitive with the formidable players aiming for a spot in India’s middle-order, Devdutt Padikkal hopes to chalk up a few big scores in the Duleep Trophy. This will help him prepare for the forthcoming international season.
Padikkal will play for Team D in the Duleep Trophy beginning on September 5. Padikkal earned his Test debut against England earlier this year.Yes, without a doubt, the Duleep Trophy is a highly significant competition. At the top level, opportunities are few and far between. Therefore, it’s critical that I keep scoring runs, and the Duleep Trophy provides me with the chance to do so,” Padikkal told PTI on Tuesday.
“Last year, I had an extremely excellent red ball season, which helped me get to India. It goes without saying that making my debut was quite special. Because there is a lot of competition, I must continue to maintain that form,” he continued.Padikkal was alluding to the 2023–24 Ranji Trophy season, in which he amassed an incredible 556 runs in just four games, hitting an average of more than 93 and scoring three hundreds.The left-hander claimed that his season-long run total of runs kept him psychologically ready for when the door to India opened for him.
To be honest, I felt prepared for that game (against England) coming into it. I thought I deserved the position. It goes without saying that I participated heavily in domestic cricket that year and scored a lot of runs in the Ranji Trophy.
“You have that confidence once you’ve completed those runs. It feels natural to play for India, at least for me it did. Naturally, reaching that fifty (on my Test debut) also boosted my confidence, he said.
The 24-year-old had high hopes for this season’s encore performance.”It is critical that I continue to improve. Obviously, Test cricket continues to challenge you. It is a challenging format to play. So I just have to keep focusing on the areas where I can improve.
“There is a lot for me to learn. So I’m still working on the areas I need to improve,” he explained.
One aspect of that improvement is increasing his presence in white ball games, and Padikkal hopes to enhance his strike rate in one-dayers and Twenty20s.
“I’ve been working on a couple of things. I’m hoping to improve my strike rate and have a new approach in T20 cricket.”I’ve been attempting to incorporate that into the KSCA Maharaja Trophy. It is getting better. So hopefully I can keep doing it.”
However, Padikkal agreed that the process is far more difficult than simply discussing it.
“Yes, it is challenging. It’s more of a mindset adjustment than anything else. I aim to maintain my basics as consistent as possible throughout all three formats.The main goal of that trip, according to Padikkal, is to become more mentally combative.
“It’s about mentally shifting to being a little more aggressive in the one-day format and definitely more aggressive in the T20 format.
“So, in a sense, my batting style remains constant. It’s just the extra shots you end up playing in various configurations,” he explained.
However, Padikkal faces an off-field challenge in the form of a stomach problem that stopped him from playing at his peak level a few seasons ago.
The Karnataka man stated that he has learned to play around it. “So, in a sense, my batting style remains constant. It’s just the extra shots you end up playing in various configurations,” he explained.
However, Padikkal faces an off-field challenge in the form of a stomach problem that stopped him from playing at his peak level a few seasons ago.
The Karnataka man stated that he has learned to play around it.
“Yes, I’ve pretty much gotten out of it. It is not something that will go gone immediately. I’m still managing. But, at the same time, I’m not in the same circumstances as a few years ago, when I couldn’t play.”Since we have already qualified, we simply want to offer everyone an opportunity. “Hopefully, in the knockouts, we’ll have our full team back and put on a good show,” he said.
