BENGALURU: A 19-year-old from Karnataka opener Devdutt Padikkal finished as the leading run-scorer in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 609 runs, and has continued his form in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 255 runs in just four matches so far.
It has not been long since the left-hander broke into the Karnataka side, making his Ranji Trophy debut last season as several seniors players were not available due to international duties.
He hit three-half centuries in five matches, but was disappointed for not converting those knocks into hundreds. The youngster scored his maiden List A hundred in the 50-over domestic competition against Saurashtra last month.
“The confidence from that Ranji season helped me. After those matches, I felt I belonged to this level. But once I got a hundred in the Vijay Hazare and also managed to convert my good starts, I became confident,” said Padikkal, who has already hit a ton in the domestic T20 competition as well.
Despite his age, he has showed signs of maturity. The Kerala-born player, who is naturally an aggressive batsman, does not mind seeing off the new ball in red-ball cricket. When it comes to List A, he gradually opens up after getting his eye in and takes on the bowling from the word go in the shortest format.
His career strike rate of 46.57 in the first-class cricket, 78.40 (List-A) and 182.14 (T20) show that the cricketer is capable of changing his game as per requirement.
“I try to adapt to the different formats I play. I really want to make a mark in all the three formats. I keep it simple and not think too much, and keep my basics correct,” added Padikkal.
“I always stick to my game plan. When you play in the T20 format, there is a need to score quick runs. You do not have the luxury of time, which you might have in other formats, so you have to go from the start and that has been working for me in this Mushtaq Ali Trophy.”