November 28, 2018 - The renaissance man of Karnataka cricket, Vinay Kumar handed Devdutt Padikkal his debut Ranji cap in Mysore. In an interesting turn of events as reported by 'The Hindu' news agency, the senior Indian selector, Jatin Paranjpe despite having a sore back, travelled all the way just to catch a glimpse of the youngster. Much to his delight, Devdutt gave a good account of his batting proficiencies in the 2nd innings, essaying a well-compiled half-century against Maharashtra. However, he displayed intermittent flickers of brilliance with the bat throughout the season. But the inability to convert the starts into a three-digit score became too serious an issue to contend with, given the competitive culture embodied in the Karnataka cricketing circles.

There are times when the sun is shining hard on us and everything pans out the way it was intended. And, there are days where you will encounter hardships, emerging from a scenario which is beyond our control. With every obstacle comes a piece of advice that most people choose to conveniently ignore. Devdutt, deep within himself, realised that he had to tussle hard to surmount the challenging times. Two years later, the teen prodigy had mercilessly dominated quality bowling attacks, orchestrating Karnataka to a podium finish in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. 

Recalling the memories of the Mysore game, Vinay Kumar said that he was immediately convinced of Devdutt's credentials. “The way he was timing the ball in that second innings in Mysuru, he never looked like a youngster to me. That day I felt, ‘This guy will make it very big.’ He looked ready for the next level. He is fearless. He is totally dominating the bowling. It won’t be long before we see another Karnataka player in the Indian team.”

Having seen him from close quarters, K Gowtham's words of praise were an expansion of Devdutt Padikkal's meteoric growth as a player and a person. “He’s been the find of the season. Last year, he started off fairly well in the Ranji Trophy. Maybe things didn’t go the way he wanted after that but this year he’s been working really hard. He’s shown he has what it takes to succeed at this level. What he’s done is absolute champion stuff.” 

After enduring a debut season of mediocrity to topping the batting charts in two abbreviated formats, the cricketing fraternity may have witnessed the coming of age of Devdutt Padikkal. 

[The Hindu input]