Published: Mar 08, 2024, 10:03 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 08, 2024, 10:03 PM (IST)
Devdutt Padikkal patiently waited until the conclusion of the first session before being called upon to take the long walk to the pitch in Dharamsala on Day 2. During the morning session, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill had made batting appear effortless, yet Ben Stokes’ first ball in Test cricket in 251 days changed the narrative and dismissed Rohit Sharma. This inturn led to Padikkal’s long wait for debut come to an end.
Padikkal’s participation in the match remained uncertain even until the previous evening. Despite the Indian team management’s staunch support for Rajat Patidar amidst his challenging initiation into Test cricket, a knock in the nets on the eve of the game altered the course of events. Padikkal became aware that Patidar’s fitness for the match would only be confirmed in the morning, although he had received a prior indication that predictably disrupted his sleep.
“I think regardless of when you get to know, there’re always thoughts in your head, there’s always going to be nervousness around it. So that was still there. I got a message saying there could be a possibility I could be playing on the previous night itself. I was nervous from that time. It was a tough night’s sleep,” Padikkal said, after marking this nervous outing with a half-century. “But that’s how it is. It is something you also enjoy at the same time, you want to live for those days, so I am really happy.”
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Padikkal had a nervous start in the format, but he came into it over time, exhibiting a full range of strokes and 10 fours. There were cover drives and cut shots as he displayed his beautiful off-side game. However, his favourite of the bunch was the one that rushed down to the third man fence and calmed him down with the outer edge of his bat.
“Every boundary was very enjoyable, even the edges. Probably the first edge that I got, which went behind for a four, that was probably the most enjoyable to be honest because those were my first runs,” Padikkal said.
“Runs give you confidence, that’s not any different for me. The first couple of years I wasn’t doing so well in first-class cricket. But you keep working hard, you keep trying to improve your game and make those small adjustments. I am still young so I am still learning and making adjustments”
“Technically there were a couple of small things, nothing too major. But mostly mentally I feel I just wanted to make sure that I enjoyed the game a lot more, because the last couple of years not being able to play that often and missing out on a lot of games made me realise how much I miss the sport, how much I wanted to just be in the action playing cricket and doing things that I used to love as a kid. So that’s something I wanted to focus on, just having fun and enjoying the sport,” Padikkal said.
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