Padikkal ton puts Karnataka on top

Chennai: Some batters have a way of making other batters envy them and bowlers detest them. Devdutt Padikkal is one among the some. 

He may have gone out of fashion for a year or so owing to a physical condition he is yet to open up about, but since he has made his way back into the side, the 23-year-old has been on an absolute tear.  

Besides compiling 465 runs at an average of 155 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy towards the end of 2023, Padikkal had scored 560 runs in seven innings, including 191 in three innings for India A, in first-class cricket as of February 1.  

He had compiled scores of 193, 42, 31 and 103 for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy before going on his India A sojourn.

Expectedly, expectations peaked as he returned to the State side for their crucial Group C clash against Tamil Nadu at the MA Chidambaram stadium from Friday, and Padikkal wasn’t willing to let this narrative of consistency slip.  

Witnessed by close to two thousand people, the left-hander was a velvet-draped cannon for nearly the day as he compiled his third Ranji Trophy century this season. 

Not only did this mean that he had gone past 500 runs in only four domestic games, it also meant Karnataka would look menacingly dominant at the end of the first day. At stumps, Karnataka had reached 288 for 5 from 90 overs, a score that was almost entirely orchestrated by the brilliance of Padikkal. 

A tally of 151 not out from 216 balls with 12 fours and six sixes reflects his efficacy and dominance, but nowhere in those numbers do beauty and grace make themselves evident. And that is what Padikkal’s knock was almost entirely about, save for when he looked ungainly against the short ball for some time. 

It must be noted that this wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on. The surface was about as dry as the air above it, meaning spinners would come into the picture early on, but there was some movement for the seamers early on. All on expected lines so Karnataka - what with one-and-a-half good spinners in the playing XI - chose to bat first on a surface which had uneven bounce sporadically. 

Tamil Nadu’s ploy was self-evident when skipper and off-spinner R Sai Kishore opened the bowling alongside pacer Sandeep Warrier. It worked in that he was able to get rid of returning skipper Mayank Agarwal out for 20, but his reactive strategies had no answer to the second-wicket alliance between Padikkal and R Samarth (57).  

The duo added 132 runs from 246 balls to take Karnataka’s score from 35 for 1 to 167 before Samarth fell prey to the only good bowler on the day: left-arm spinner Ajith Ram S.

Padikkal didn’t concern himself much with the happenings at the other end. Having shadow-practiced a golf swing all through the day, he employed it proactively at the crease against every variety of Tamil Nadu bowlers. 

He did have his share of luck, dropped by M Mohammed on 77, but once he got into his 90s with a massive six off Sai Kishore, he knew the eight-ball had fallen in favour and went after the triple-figure mark without restraint. 

Padikkal leapt, landed and acknowledged the crowd for what seemed like forever. But once he got back to batting, time moved faster than anyone at the venue would have liked. Hopefully, there’s more to come.