Devdutt Padikkal: From overcoming health complications to landing a dream Test debut

Devdeutt Padikkal while receiving his maiden test cap from Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday seemed happier but the happy exterior masked the struggles the 23yearold had to go through over the last two years to reach this dream momentPadikkal debuted for India in 2021 during the T20I series against Sri Lanka but failed to make an impact due to a COVID19 infection and a stomachrelated health complicationAlso Read IND vs ENG 5th Test Sarfaraz scores fifty as India reach 376 for 3 at teaThose two years 2021 to early 2023 he was struggling to stay fit and healthy He suffered from loss of weight too It was a constant stomach bug that was troubling him Irfan Sait who coached Devdutt through his formative years told PTI We kept talking to each other over phone and incidentally I was also having the same condition and we were consulting the same doctor in the Jain Hospital without each other knowingMohammed Naseerudden another coach here too has been close to him and kept in touch with him during those lowmood phases However Devdutt has this inbuilt streak of determination to hurdle over obstacles I have known Devdutt from the age of 11 when he relocated to Bangalore from Hyderabad to pursue a career in cricket He was a determined kid and the illness did not change anything said Sait the founder of Karnataka Institute of Cricket KIOC He worked really hard on his fitness and diet ahead of the 2023 season because he wanted to get back to the place where he was in 202021 The hard work did not go in vain The graceful lefthander had a fine 202324 season for Karnataka across the formats He opened the season scoring 119 runs in five T20s while striking at 118 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but bettered those stats in the ensuing Vijay Hazare TrophyAlso Read IND vs ENG 5th Test England batters need to focus on their own batting Nasser HussainDevdutt Padikkal was the highest run scorer for Karnataka with 465 runs in five matches including two centuries and three halfcenturies He averaged a mindboggling 155 in that tournament and struck runs at 12046 But he slipped into his real self in the Ranji TrophyHe could play only four matches due to the national duties but emerged as the leading run scorer for the side with 556 runs He smashed three centuries with an average of 9266 and his best score of the season was 193 runs against PunjabBut while playing for India A his knock of 105 runs against England Lions and 151 runs against Tamil Nadu was the turning point as the innings was seen by chief selector Ajit AgarkarOnce KL Rahul did not pass the fitness test ahead of the third Test against England India needed a replacementRahul Dravid and Ajit Agarkar held a brief discussion and the latter was mighty impressed with Devdutt after that Chennai innings and recommended his name said a BCCI official on conditions of anonymity Sait was confident that Devdutt would exploit this opening to the hilt There is absolutely nothing in his life apart from cricket I know him as a child and he has been a topper in the U14 U16 and U19 levels He worked very hard to add batting skills after starting as an offspinner Now the way he battled past his health complications is a tribute to his character and determination There would not have been a happier person than me when I got a message from him about his impending first Test he addedOther debutants like Dhurv Jurel Akash Deep and Sarfaraz Khan have had their moments in this series against England Now its the turn of Devdutt to add a page to that flipbookWith PTI Inputs