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    STUMP VISION                                                          AUGUST 28, 2026      |  The Indian Eye 44

                     From the Bench to the Summit:

             Devdutt Padikkal’s Galle Statement

                Padikkal’s cricket was shaped at Bengaluru’s Karnataka Institute of Cricket,

              where his coaches turned a promising off-spinner into a stylish top-order batter.

                           His 2019-20 season remains the benchmark of his early career

                     ARCHAN MEHTA

                  onventional  wisdom  says  a
                  tall batter facing a sharp turn
            Cshould lean forward, use his
            long reach, and smother the ball at
            the pitch. Devdutt Padikkal, all 6 foot
            3 inches of him, tore up that manu-
            al  at  Galle.  On  a  sweltering  open-
            ing  day,  the  26-year-old  left-hander
            walked  away  with  an  unbeaten  131
            off 178 balls against Sri Lanka, built
            not on tentative half-forward pushes
            but on deep crease play, wristy touch,
            and a calm, clear game plan. He only
            got  his  chance  because  regular  No.
            3 B. Sai Sudharsan broke down with   On a sweltering opening day, the 26-year-old left-hander walked away with an unbeaten 131 off 178 balls against Sri Lanka (ANI photo)
            a toe injury, but Padikkal made the
            opportunity entirely his own, steering   Cricket, where his coaches turned a   Padikkal responded by going back   season,  he  scored  a  colossal  232  in
            India to 288 for 2 and reopening the   promising  off-spinner  into  a  stylish   to basics,  rebuilding his body and   the  semifinal,  then  kept  the  run  of
            debate around India’s middle-order   top-order batter. His 2019-20 season   reworking his upright stance to give   form going with 120 not out, 67, and
            pecking order.                    remains the benchmark of his early   himself a sturdier defensive game   94 for India A in Galle, plus a bruis-
                The innings had one moment    career, when he topped run charts   suited to red-ball cricket.     ing 142 not out in the tour warm-up.
            that summed up everything Padikkal   in both the Vijay Hazare and Syed   The results were hard to ignore.   His first-class average now sits above
            is about. Facing left-arm spinner Pra-  Mushtaq Ali trophies for Karnataka.   He piled up 556 Ranji Trophy runs at   44 from 54 matches, the record of a
            bath Jayasuriya on a surface turning   That form carried him to the IPL,   nearly 93 in the 2023-24 season, add-  batter who had simply outgrown the
            sharply, he went from 51 to 55 with   where 473 runs for Royal Challeng-  ed twin centuries against the England   domestic circuit.
            a stroke few batters his height would   ers Bengaluru in 2020 won him the   Lions, and struck 151 against Tamil   Padikkal’s century hands India’s
            attempt: back foot planted outside   Emerging Player award, ahead of   Nadu, form that earned him Test cap   selectors  a  genuine  headache.  Sai
            off,  hips  cleared,  bat  coming  down   names like Virat Kohli and AB de   No. 314 against England at Dharam-  Sudharsan,  24,  averages  43  in  first-
            against the spin to beat both cov-  Villiers. A rapid IPL hundred and a   sala in March 2024. A composed 65   class cricket, with two eighties in
            er  fielders.  He  had  announced  his   clutch of List A centuries soon fol-  on debut, though, was followed by   his  last  five  Tests.  Sudharsan  reads
            intent from the first ball of the day,   lowed, and international recognition   five Tests on the sidelines. Recalled   length  from  a  low  crouch;  Padikkal
            pulling it for four, then launching a   arrived with a T20I cap in 2021.  for the 2024-25 Perth Test against   frees his arms off an upright stance
            straight six two balls later. Boundar-  Then  the  setbacks  piled  up.  A   Australia, he made a painful start: a   built for pace and bounce. Dropping
            ies made up under half his runs, yet   stubborn intestinal infection com-  23-ball  duck  against  Mitchell  Starc   a centurion who tamed Galle’s turn
            he kept the innings moving at better   bined  with  COVID-19  cost  him   and Josh Hazlewood, before a fight-  would  be  brutal.  But  Padikkal  has
            than 70 to the hundred through busy   nearly 10 kilograms and much of his   ing 25 in the second innings. Fourteen   waited before and he knows how to
            running and sharp placement, giving   strength through 2022 and into 2023.   more Tests passed without a look-in.  strike when the door opens.
            Sri Lanka’s spinners no rhythm at all.  A move to the middle order at Ra-  Rather than let the wait wear
                None  of  this  came  easily.  Pa-  jasthan Royals, a broken thumb, and   him down, Padikkal used it to dom-  Archan Mehta is a writer dedicated to
            dikkal’s cricket was shaped at Ben-  a quiet IPL 2024 with Lucknow Su-  inate domestic cricket further. Lead-  telling compelling stories about athletes,
            galuru’s Karnataka Institute of   per Giants added to the frustration.   ing Karnataka in the 2025-26 Ranji   teams, and the world of cricket

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