Devdutt Padikkal’s career-best First Class innings of 193 (216b, 24x4, 4x6), against Punjab in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy opener here on Saturday, couldn’t have come at a better time.
The knock not only put his side in a dominating position, it also helped banish painful memories from last season when he missed the first four matches tending to an intestinal issue that had required multiple hospital visits.
“That period was pretty frustrating more than anything else,” Padikkal said after the day’s play. “I knew that I was batting pretty well before that and it so happened that I wasn’t able to contribute to my side.
“This year I want to make sure I help my team, try and win games for them. My relief was more to the fact that I was able to put my team in a commanding position.”
The manner in which he scored his runs was impressive too. Against a career red-ball strike-rate of 53.35, Padikkal scored at 89.35, but all along played risk-free cricket. His first six, in fact, came only after he got past 140.
“It was a wicket where it wasn’t easy to play aerial shots,” said Padikkal, for whom it was a third First Class ton to go with 11 half-centuries. “But as I settled, I got the confidence to clear the boundary.
“[To me] every Ranji hundred is special. No matter what, the grind [towards] getting a hundred is tough. I was a bit nervous in the 90s, and also in the 190s. But it was a special one.”
