Star Indian player and one of the finest batters of all time, Devdutt Padikkal will look to use his experience as a domestic captain when he leads India A for the first time in the upcoming four-day matches against Australia A in Puducherry.
Padikkal became Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy captain in the 2025-26 season, taking over from Mayank Agarwal. He handled the responsibility well, scoring an unbeaten 120 off 85 balls in the fourth innings against Punjab to help Karnataka chase 250 runs in just 28 overs in Mohali. He then continued his fine form in the semi-final against Uttarakhand, scoring a career-best 232 at No. 3 in Lucknow and earning the Player of the Match award as captain.
Devdutt Padikkal looks forward to leading India A after learning from Karnataka
After the Duleep Trophy 2026, Devdutt Padikkal reacted to get a chance to lead Team India A. “Definitely, it’s a great opportunity to be the captain of India A side.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I think leadership is something that I really enjoy doing, especially starting off with Karnataka last year. It was a great learning curve for me, so I’m really looking forward to carrying that experience to India A set-up as well,” he added.
“Captaincy is just an added responsibility to go out there and make sure that I’m helping the side. I’ve always played cricket that way. I’ve always wanted to make sure that the team wins. As a captain, that’s your sole focus. You want to make the team win. That just helps my batting even further,” he concluded.
Padikkal backs himself amid competition as Sudharsan returns to India A squad
However, star Indian player Sai Sudharsan, who was replaced by Devdutt Padikkal for the two-Test series in Sri Lanka, is now fit and back in the squad for the two-match series against Australia A. “I think there’s always been tough competition for spots in Indian cricket.”
“I think it’s never really come down and it’s always going to be the same. It’s important that we don’t focus too much on that and just continue to enjoy my batting. As long as I’m scoring runs, I’m happy,” he added.
Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan often play fuller balls from spinners while staying on the back foot. This style has worked well for them. Padikkal has played this way since he was young, so he does not feel it is risky.
“It takes a lot of hard work to go through the domestic grind. There’s a lot of high-quality cricket going on in the domestic circuit. I think it’s not always noticed, but you can see that. Especially when you look at Duleep Trophy, the amount of quality that is there and the talent that is there.”