Bharath Ramaraj
The eyes light up with interest while watching Devdutt Padikkal’s spread of run-making traits. He is languid and lissome at the crease and makes batsmanship look rather easy. On a cloudy day, with a green tinge on the wicket at the Centre of Excellence, those salient characteristics were very much on display against arch-rivals Mumbai. Ultimately, Padikkal ended up with an unbeaten 81 as Karnataka sealed a spot in the last-four of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
There were cuts and pulls as he took advantage of Mumbai employing short-ball tactics. It is true that Padikkal was given his first reprieve, with him attempting a pull shot while facing a decent short ball from round the wicket. But on a wicket that was offering just enough sideways movement, it didn’t make much sense for Mumbai to test the middle of the pitch.
Returning to Padikkal’s batting, amidst all the horizontal-bat shots, one stroke stood out. Early on in his innings, the southpaw hung back in the crease and creamed a punchy drive off Mohit Avasthi that raced away into the downtown territories. This shot can be seen via two different dimensions. The languid grace on show made it a quintessential Padikkal drive. At the same time, it also said something about his weakness.
Padikkal is one of those batters who loads up on the front foot, followed by the back foot going back and then for him to take a step forward. In that process, he could be vulnerable to the fuller one. Even in the Mumbai-Karnataka game, he could have been dismissed in that fashion.
After being driven down the ground, Avasthi adjusted his line and ushered in a dangled carrot in the channel outside the off-stump. Padikkal almost fell into the trap by duly chasing that offering, only for the lone slip fielder to make a mess of a simple chance. Perhaps the Indian think-tank also noticed the same problem during the Perth Test in 2024.
Leave aside that one small flaw, and scroll through his List-A stats to gauge his mind-numbing numbers – 13 hundreds at an average of 84.6. This season, he is averaging a Bradmanesque 103, with four hundreds to his name. So much so that even in his maiden List-A season, he had averaged an astounding 67. Curiously, Padikkal has already made his debut for India in the other two versions of the game, although 50-over cricket seems to suit him the best.
Just apply logic and you end up imagining Padikkal being very close to selection. It is perhaps a case of the Indian selectors having too many options to choose from, which in turn is acting as a barricade for Padikkal to break open the ODI door.
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