Padikkal keeps date with destiny

Devdutt Padikkal had watched helplessly as nearly two precious years of his young career were snatched away from him by an illness before he made amends through dint of hard work and the benevolent hand of providence.

Dharamsala: Two days ahead of the final Test here, R Ashwin spoke about how deeply indebted he was for being in the right place at the right time. Dhruv Jurel couldn't agree more. While talent and performance should influence a selection, a lot of times extraneous factors also need to go a player's way for a breakthrough. Sarfaraz Khan would attest to it.

It needed not just four years of consistent performances in domestic cricket for Sarfaraz to get his Test debut but the absence of two first-choice players for various reasons. While talented, Jurel was a bit more fortunate to get a Test call-up so early in his career. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant suffered a near-fatal accident, Ishan Kishan fell foul of the authorities and KS Bharat was disappointing despite a good enough run to prove his worth. Talk of the stars aligning!

Devdutt Padikkal will vouch for it all. The southpaw watched helplessly as nearly two precious years of his young career were snatched away from him by an illness before he made amends through dint of hard work and the benevolent hand of providence. In a series that had already seen four debutants, the 23-year-old became the fifth newcomer after Rajat Patidar was ruled out on the opening morning of the match, the Madhya Pradesh batter pulling up with soreness in his ankle. Ashwin, who became the first Tamil Nadu player to figure in 100 Tests, handed over Cap No. 314 to Padikkal, who became the 25th player from Karnataka to play Test cricket.

Life was moving along expected lines for Devdutt’s parents, the Padikkal couple who always wanted their son to be a cricketer even before he was born. After proving his worth in age-group tournaments for both Karnataka and India, the lanky left-hander earned more fame with successful IPL stints at Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals. The big reward came in the shape of an India debut in a T20I in Sri Lanka in 2021. It was a second-string Indian team and a transition to the main team seemed more a matter of when rather than if. 

Just then, Padikkal was hit by an intestinal issue, which he refuses to discuss much. Unusual weight loss led to loss in strength as well. He apparently had to survive only on curd rice for months as nothing else was palatable. All this left him so brittle that just a couple of rounds of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium would leave him tired. It required months of hard training, strict diet and loads of resolve for him to be able to perform the way he is doing now.

"Of course, it was a very tough period," Padikkal's father, Babunu Kunnath, told DH on Thursday, a few hours after his son made his Test debut. "(But our job was) to make sure that he remained in good spirits and didn't lose his confidence. (It's) probably his determination (that) pulled him through this, more than anything else."      

Following an impressive Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament, where he stacked up 465 runs in five matches, Padikkal continued his appetite for runs in red-ball cricket as well. He began the Ranji Trophy campaign with an innings of 193 before adding three more hundreds (two in Ranji and one for India A against England Lions). With Shreyas Iyer getting the axe, Padikkal was an obvious replacement in the squad. A place in 11, however, wasn't expected in this series. 

"It was a pleasant surprise as we were not expecting him to play," admitted Kunnath. "I came to know only during live telecast. We are extremely happy that his hard work and perseverance paid off after a couple tough years in his career." 

On the eve of the match, skipper Rohit Sharma had dropped enough hints at sticking with a struggling Patidar but a sore ankle, the result of taking a hit during Wednesday's practice, paved the way for Padikkal’s inclusion. Not that he didn't deserve a place, but sometimes, it's critical to be in the right place at the right time.