Devdutt Padikkal: From domestic dominance to IPL impact

Bengaluru: Pursuit of excellence, like everything else in life, is a core principle in a sportsperson’s career. Even by that standard, Devdutt Padikkal seems to be operating on another level. It's as though he is enjoying a Venusian phase. 

After another highly successful domestic season, where he piled up runs across formats (542 at an average of 60.33 in the Ranji Trophy, 725 at 90.62 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and 309 at 60.80 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy), the left-hander has carried that golden run into the Indian Premier League.  

His 27-ball 55 against Gujarat Titans on Friday night at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was a further demonstration of his evolution as a batter that has brought him back into conversation for a place in the Indian team in Tests and T20Is. On a day when Titans' opener and fellow left-hander Sai Sudharsan, his direct rival for the No. 3 slot in the Indian Test side, struck a sublime 100, Padikkal won the bragging rights for the impact he had on the outcome of the match. On volume, Player of the Match Virat Kohli's 81 might have carried more weight, but Padikkal's innings was a notch better for its sheer quality.

What particularly stood out most was the half a dozen sixes he produced, combining power with poise and aggression with elegance. Coming into Friday's match, he had struck 17 fours and seven sixes in six matches. After this, the count of fours increased to 19 while the sixes nearly doubled to 13.           

"The biggest plus for me is the number of sixes I hit," said Padikkal after the match. "I don't know if I hit five or six, and that's not something that is very common for me, at least personally, when I bat. I am more of a boundary (four) hitter. So the fact that I was able to hit six sixes was quite special. So yeah, probably so far in the IPL this was my best (innings)." 

This transformation didn't happen overnight. There were technical tweaks which were not easy but he was determined to work hard. During the process, he had to ensure his belief remained unaffected.            

"There are a few technical changes that I've made over the last couple of years, you have to just commit to those changes. Initially, it was difficult because obviously, it's a lot of change to my usual routines and process, but at the end of the day, now I'm getting those results," Padikkal told the broadcaster.     

"... But at the end of the day, the self-belief and confidence needs to remain the same. That's what I'm trying to do as much as possible and not change my mentality too much. Yes, definitely, I've made a few adjustments coming into the IPL. Apart from that, I've just tried to keep things simple and stay confident," he added during his post-match press-do.

Taking over the captaincy of Karnataka senior team from Mayank Agarwal, Padikkal said, has given him a different perspective to his game. The responsibility, in a way, has helped him take ownership of situations.   

"I think being a captain has made me think a lot more about how a bowler thinks, how captains are thinking on the field, what they might look to do. And I think that kind of thought process has definitely helped me find parts of my game and refine it a lot more. It gives me a little bit more of an understanding as to the situation that I am in and how I need to respond. So yeah, I guess being the captain of Karnataka has definitely contributed in a positive way."

His three half-centuries so far in this IPL -- vs SRH (61 off 26), vs CSK (50 off 29) and vs GT (55 off 27) -- are ample proof of his confidence to take control of the proceedings.