Devdutt Padikkal ready for India A captaincy challenge against Australia A

Devdutt Padikkal will captain India A in the upcoming four-day matches against Australia A in Puducherry. After gaining leadership experience with Karnataka, the left-hander said he is keen to carry those lessons forward and believes captaincy can boost his batting.

New Delhi: Devdutt Padikkal is looking forward to taking the next step in his leadership journey after being named captain of India A for the upcoming four-day matches against Australia A in Puducherry.

Padikkal will make his India A captaincy debut after gaining valuable experience while leading Karnataka in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season. He took over as Karnataka captain late in the league stage and went on to make a strong impact with both bat and ball.

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The left-handed batter said his time as Karnataka captain gave him an important learning experience, and he now wants to use that knowledge while leading India A.

“Definitely, it’s a wonderful opportunity to be the captain of India A side. I’m excited for it. I think leadership is something that I really enjoy doing, 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 India A set-up as well,” Padikkal was quoted as saying by Cricinfo.

Padikkal’s appointment comes after a strong run in red-ball cricket. He recently returned to the India Test side and scored centuries in successive Tests against Sri Lanka.

He also made a valuable contribution in the Duleep Trophy final, scoring 62 for South Zone. However, South Zone lost the final to East Zone on the basis of the first-innings lead after East Zone posted more than 1,000 runs across its two innings.

Despite the result, Padikkal said he enjoys taking responsibility and believes captaincy can help him perform better with the bat.

“Captaincy is just an added responsibility to go out there and make sure that I’m helping the side. I’ve always played cricket that way. I’ve always wanted to ensure that the team wins. As a captain, that’s your sole focus. You want to make the team win. That just helps my batting even further,” he said.