Padikkal’s second century is more than just a milestone

By K.R. Nayar

Devdutt Padikkal’s second consecutive Test century has elevated him to a special place among India’s top batters. The fact that he has become the first Indian No. 3 since Cheteshwar Pujara in 2018-19 to score centuries in consecutive away Tests will be talked about for a long time. What Padikkal has exhibited is his remarkable temperament and class. But beyond the statistics and the milestones, Padikkal’s achievement tells a more compelling story — the story of temperament, class, perseverance and the determination to belong at the highest level.

Padikkal’s brilliant footwork and shot selection are laudable. To hit another century after his knocks of 167 and 44 in the first Test at Galle, which earned him the Player of the Match award, and then crack 117 runs in the first innings of the second Test reveals his tremendous appetite for runs. This can carry him to many more three-figure knocks in the future. Consistency is never achieved by just wishing for it, but by working hard. 

The elegance with which he plays his strokes is a treat to watch. The calmness with which he builds his innings is a lesson for youngsters to emulate. He was determined to prove that his 167 in Galle was not a flash in the pan. A great innings may announce a talent. The next one confirms it.

Padikkal’s thinking is like his batting style. His style is uncomplicated. He stands tall in the crease and plays his strokes with a graceful and high backlift. Almost all his drives are fluent, and being left-handed makes them even more attractive to watch. He exhibited his mastery of playing spin in both the Tests. Great batters use the crease very well, and Padikkal is no different. The gaps he picks intelligently are what swells his score.

Good batters play excellent, well-timed cover drives. Padikkal’s cover drives are very pleasing to the eye. The power he generates from his back foot ensures that the ball races to the boundary. The cut, the square drive and the flick are all strokes that left-handers play, but when Padikkal plays them, it feels as though he has put his own signature on them. It is not easy to score two consecutive Test centuries unless one knows how to play the good ball on its merit and punish the bad ball to full effect.

Watch him closely, and one can see that it is not his patience alone that is getting him runs, but also his ability to thrive under pressure. He has, in both Tests, dictated the pace of his knocks. 

Luck favours the brave, and that could be the reason he escaped being caught early in the Colombo Test. To use those lives to play a long innings and convert it into a three-figure knock requires concentration. Centuries are never scored if reprieves disturb confidence and concentration. 

Padikkal has patiently waited for his call into the Test eleven, and he has grabbed this opportunity to capitalise on it. His journey is a reminder that opportunities may not arrive when we want them, but when they do, we must be ready to seize them.

Padikkal also knows that he is batting at the most demanding slot in the batting order. It is a bridge between the openers and the middle order, a position that often demands both caution and courage.

Batting with him must have been a pleasure even for his skipper, Shubman Gill, who scored a half-century, and together they added 120 runs. Ravindra Jadeja too added 74 runs with Padikkal. The finest batters do not merely score runs; they make the game easier for those around them.

Scoring Test centuries in conditions away from home, and that too in challenging surroundings, is what makes a batter exceptional. Doing it twice in succession makes the achievement even more special.

Through his first century, he announced his arrival, and through the second, he has announced that he belongs there and that he would love to keep the No. 3 slot as his own.