CHENNAI: Karnataka's Devdutt Padikkal had a fruitful Test series against Sri Lanka where he cracked two centuries. His effort was one of the key reasons that helped India win the series 2-0.
After that series, he was drafted into the South Zone team for the Duleep Trophy final where he managed to put on a good show. However the Tilak Varma-led South Zone team lost the final to East Zone.
Now, the southpaw is set to lead the India A side in the multi-day game against Australia in Puducherry beginning on September 22. Expressing delight over the news of his captaincy, he hopes to use the experience of leading his Ranji team in this international tie. Tamil Nadu’s Sai Sudharsan, who Padikkal replaced ahead of the Sri Lanka series, will be vice-captain.
"Yeah, it always feels great to get some runs (in Sri Lanka). I think the purpose behind coming here (Chennai) was to try and help South Zone win, but obviously that couldn't happen. But at the end of the day,I am happy with the fact that I was able to get some time out there, and hopefully I can continue that," Padikkal said.
He relishes the opportunity to lead an Indian side. "I think leadership is something that I really enjoy doing. I think especially starting off with Karnataka last year, it was a great learning curve for me. So I'm really looking forward to carrying that experience to the India A setup as well," he said.
He said the responsibilities of a captain only makes him a better player. "For me personally, I enjoy captaincy, and that is just an added responsibility to just go out there and make sure that I'm helping the side. I think I've always played cricket that way. I've always wanted to make sure that the team wins. That just helps my batting even further, so I'm really happy to do that," he explained.
He is aware of the competition for slots in the team and is keen to let the bat do the talking.
"I think there's always been tough competition for spots in Indian cricket. I think it's never really come down, and it's always going to be the same. It's important that we don't focus too much on that and I just want to continue to enjoy my batting and as long as I'm scoring runs, I'm happy," he said.
Padikkal, in recent years, seems to have found the trick in switching roles across formats. From being an explosive batter from one down from Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL, to exuding class and measure with India whites, he explained how working on small things has helped with the switch.
“I've spoken about it before (it’s) just making sure my hands are a bit closer together, just making sure I'm playing much tighter and not playing too many shots at the start of my innings. But yeah, those things are some of the smaller things that I've tried to work on, but I think it keeps changing as it goes," he added.
Padikkal is a good player of spin and explained that playing off the back foot against spin comes naturally for him. "I think that comes naturally. I think that's a technical thing that some batters prefer to play more on the back foot. I think for me personally, I don't see it as a risk. It's part of my game, it's something that I've done my whole career, so it's not something different for me. For someone who is not used to playing on the back foot much, that might seem like a risk. But at the end of the day, those are things that you have to continue to adapt, and there will be things in your game that you have to make sure that you are not letting them expose it. I think you have to keep working on it, keep trying and make sure how you can adapt with it and manage that as well," he said. Padikkal credits his India call-up to the domestic grind.
"It takes a lot of hard work to go through the domestic grind. I think there is a lot of high-quality cricket going on in the domestic circuit. I think it's not always noticed, but you can see that especially in the Duleep Trophy. I think there is a lot of hard work that goes in day in, day out to make sure that you are constantly performing after every game. I think, you know, you play almost 11 games a year in a Ranji Trophy if you get to the final. So doing that is not very easy, and it takes a lot of effort and a lot of commitment to what you're doing. At the end of the day, when that gets noticed and you get picked for the side, it's a really gratifying experience," he said.
The lanky batter wants to constantly keep improving his game and is keen to listen to anyone who offers him good advice.
"Personally, I think I try to listen to everyone that's around, you know, everyone who's willing to give advice, I'm open to hearing. I try to take in every opinion and try to understand what works best for me and try to implement that," he signed off.