Although Devdutt Padikkal did not get a big score in the second T20I, Virender Sehwag was impressed with the batsman's approach.
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If there is one sport that India is almost certainly better at than almost any other country, it is cricket. There is a large pool of talented cricketers the selectors choose from and it gives the side quite an impressive squad depth. When the players from the senior team reach the end of their careers, there will not be many problems in replacing them. Former Indian batter Virender Sehwag said that the one who could replace opener Shikhar Dhawan is young batter Devdutt Padikkal. The youngster might not have been able to perform in the second T20I against Sri Lanka, but he had quite an impressive season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier in the year.
“I really want to see him perform because the way he played a couple of innings, struck a century in the IPL, we saw some brilliant batting. When Shikhar Dhawan goes, he would be the right replacement for him. The only thing is that I want these Indian youngsters to first get opportunities in the sub-continent, because then when he goes to England, Australia, or South Africa, there is confidence behind him,” the former cricketer said on Cricbuzz.
Four players, Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Rituraj Gaikwad, and Chetan Sakariya got their debuts in the second T20I against Sri Lanka in the three-match series. The team was close to pulling off a victory against the Lankan Lions but they fell short in the end. Padikkal scored the most runs among the debutantes as he scored 29 runs. In fact, he was the one who scored the most runs in the squad after skipper Dhawan, who scored 40.
It is highly likely that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter will get another chance to prove his worth in the third and final T20I against Sri Lanka. The series is currently tied at 1-1 and the upcoming match will be the decider. Sehwag believes that if Padikkal can perform well in that game, and potentially win a series for India, it will be a massive boost for his confidence. That would ultimately give him the motivation to work harder and become a superstar of the sport in the future.
“If he performs, it will help his confidence and he can be a future star. He has that talent based on what I’ve seen in his batting. There’s no better thing than him getting an opportunity against Sri Lanka. The wickets will be flat, there will be no swing or seam. He just needs to keep a little bit of patience and needs to be careful with his shot selection. It shouldn’t be tough for him to score runs,” Sehwag concluded.
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