Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin wants Devdutt Padikkal to be part of India’s Test team. Ashwin reckons the left-hander will be a great fit at the number three position in the red-ball format. Since Cheteshwar Pujara’s retirement, India has tried multiple batters at one drop but none of them have fully grabbed their chances.
Padikkal scored 39 runs off 27 deliveries against KKR and added 92 runs off 59 balls with Virat Kohli in the run chase of 193 at Raipur on Wednesday. Padikkal has amassed 367 runs in 11 innings of the ongoing season of the IPL.
The southpaw from Karnataka has scored 3627 runs in 54 first-class matches at an average of 42.67.
Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “I want Devdutt Padikkal to be India’s No. 3 in Test cricket. He has batted so well, and he deserves to be an incumbent Test player for India. He should be given a long-term chance.”
The former off-spinner praised Padikkal for his superb timing while hitting the big shots.
“If you look at his sixes, it is all about the timing. When I see his batting, I feel that there is a little bit of Dinesh Karthik’s imprint. He is very proactive against spinners. He was there with me in RR, and at the time, he used to play spinners on the back foot. Now, he plays the reverse sweep and sweep. He also has the feet usage,” he added.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli scored a match-winning knock of 105 runs off 60 balls against KKR and Ashwin said the veteran batter should continue playing the same role for RCB.
He concluded, “I think Virat Kohli’s role should remain the same. There is no need for him to move away from this role in this team. Jacob Bethell will have to take risks, Devdutt Padikkal is already taking risks, Tim David is a power batter, and Rajat Patidar is also playing in a good tempo. I liked that he took a single because in the earlier games, he took risks, which was also good, as he does not need to prove it to anyone. But I want to give him credit and praise this knock for the team’s sake.”
RCB will next take on Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala, on Sunday.
