Padikkal says leadership role will have positive influence on his batting

Devdutt Padikkal says leading India A against Australia will be a valuable learning experience and could further improve his batting. The Karnataka batter, who has been in good form, is also looking forward to adapting to New Zealand conditions

Bengaluru:  Top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal says the opportunity to captain India A is a fine “learning experience” and believes it will have a positive influence on his batting ahead of the upcoming tour to New Zealand.

Padikkal will lead India A against Australia in two red-ball games at Puducherry from September 22.

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“It’s a great opportunity to be captain of India A. I’m looking forward to it. I think leadership is something that I really enjoy doing, especially starting off with Karnataka last year,” Padikkal told select media.

“It was a great learning curve for me, so I’m really looking forward to carrying that experience to India A as well,” he added.

Padikkal has proved that the leadership role sits lightly on his shoulders while guiding Karnataka in last season’s Ranji Trophy.

His 85-ball 120 helped Karnataka overcome Punjab in a must-win group game at Mohali and reach the quarterfinals.

On that occasion, Karnataka chased down 250 in just 28 overs.

“Personally, I enjoy captaincy. That’s 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 make sure 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.

Padikkal, who returned from the recent tour to Sri Lanka with two fifties and the Player of the Series award, continued to be in good touch in the Duleep Trophy final.

The left-hander made an assured 62 for South Zone against East Zone at Chepauk earlier this week.

“It always feels great to get some runs. I think the purpose behind coming here was to try and help the South Zone win, but obviously that couldn’t happen. But personally, I’m happy with the fact that I was able to get some time out there and hopefully I can continue that.”

More than those external aspects, Padikkal was delighted to see the constant evolution of his batting, a by-product of playing cricket regularly against quality opponents in various conditions.

“It’s a constant learning curve. There are a lot of things that I’ve learnt throughout the season. I think more technically than mentally. There were a few changes that I needed to make to evolve as a batter in the last season or so.

“We’re playing in different conditions. Obviously, Sri Lanka and Chennai were quite similar. But moving forward, going to New Zealand as well, it’ll be interesting to see how I can adapt to different conditions,” he said.

The Karnataka batter emphasised that playing domestic cricket always helps a player maintain the edge in his game.

“It takes a lot of hard work to go through the domestic grind. There is a lot of high-quality cricket going on in the domestic circuit. I think it’s not always noticed, especially when you look at the Duleep Trophy, the amount of quality that is there.

“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 play 11 games a year in a Ranji Trophy season to get to the final.

“So, doing that is not very easy and it takes a lot of effort and commitment. 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.

In Puducherry, Padikkal will have a fit-again Sai Sudharsan jostling with him for the No. 3 slot.

But the 26-year-old just wanted to focus on scoring runs.

“There’s always been tough competition for spots in Indian cricket. It has 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 just continue to enjoy my batting. As long as I’m scoring runs, I’m happy,” he signed off.