Devdutt Padikkal's 'glorious' Test debut in Dharamsala leaves former England cricketer in awe
23-year-old Devdutt Padikkal looked confident during his 65-run knock on Test debut which was laced with 10 fours and a six
Former England cricketer Nick Knight heaped praise on India's debutant Devdutt Padikkal as the southpaw impressed him with his ‘glorious’ off-drives at Dharamsala. Padikkal replaced Rajat Patidar in the playing XI for the fifth Test against England at HPCA, Dharamsala. The southpaw made an impact on his debut innings with a fine half-century.
23-year-old Padikkal looked confident during his 65-run knock which was laced with 10 fours and a six which he hit to reach his maiden Test fifty. His 103-ball stay was ended by Shoaib Bashir who delivered an absolute beauty to beat Padikkal and hit the wickets.
Padikkal came out to bat at number four spot after skipper Rohit Sharma's departure. He shared a crucial 97-run stand for the fourth wicket alongside Sarfaraz Khan to rebuild the Indian innings after they lost centurions Rohit and Shubman Gill in quick succession.
Knight, who is on the commentating job for the ongoing Test, hailed the young debutant and called his off-drives one of the best in business.
"Devdutt Padikkal has one of the most glorious off-drives I have seen in recent times. I've got to admit to you, though, with the first five or 10-15 minutes, I was a bit concerned about the bodyweight being back and he hit one or two in the air through covers. Now I think, since he's got in and his footwork's become crisper, we're back to what I thought I saw before he started this innings," Knight said on Jio Cinema.
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Knight admitted that sometimes on debut the players get a bit nervous which was also the case with Padikkal with his footwork at the start of the innings but he managed to impress the Englishman with his stroke-making.
"So really good signs. And let's face it, you're on Test match debut. Your footwork's not be as crisp. I think there was a little bit of that in it, perhaps a little bit here rather than being there."
"But I thought it was a really impressive debut so far," said Knight.
The absence of senior starts including Virat Kohli and KL Rahul forced India to try young players in the ongoing series. However, the move worked quite well in India's favour as Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel impressed many in the last two Tests while Padikkal shone brightly in Dharamsala on his debut innings.
Knight also pointed out the impressive show of young Indian batters, who made their debut with the ongoing series, as he credited the Ranji Trophy for their success.
"The other point is the bigger picture stuff here. You look at the debutants so far in this series and all of them played in that A series against England. India A versus England A, Ahmedabad before this series started and while it was going on. How good is that for India? Because they've got players that have played in four-day cricket. They've got I know the Ranji Trophy is terrific and has done a great job and it's doing a great job. Then you go up to A level and then you come to Test match. So it's a lovely progression, really for some of these players to come into this Test match series and there are still a few waiting in the wings as well," said Knight.
