Young India batter Devdutt Padikkal will have to rise to the challenges that will come his way if he gets an opportunity in the first Test against Australia starting here on Friday, feels his senior Karnataka teammate Mayank Agarawal. Padikkal, who was initially left out of India’s huge 18-member squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was asked to stay on for the A Down Under team’s unofficial tests after being hit on the left arm by Shubman Gill before the start of the series. If Gill remains sidelined, Padikkal will be able to take the field for the second time in this format, having made his debut against England in March.
“They (Indian players) had time to prepare. The good thing was that a lot of guys went and played India A games,” Agarawal, who was in a similar situation on the 2018-19 tour when he was called up for the second Test in Melbourne, told PTI on Thursday. .
“They had at least three weeks to prepare for the new conditions. But now it all comes down to mindset: are you ready to go into battle? Or are you ready to take this fight? If he can get to the mindset that he has; “He’s got a lot of skill, a lot of talent (and he) works hard at his game.” return to the national team the day before the game.
“It’s honestly really surreal. The intensity of the training was quite high. You feel this challenge; you will feel that everyone is ready and raring to go for the big series ahead,” Padikkal said.
“So it’s always nice to have training sessions with the Indian team because they feel as important as the match. I hope this will be reflected in the game.” “I’m glad I got this opportunity and hope I can take advantage of it,” said Padikkal, who scored a penalty of 88 in the first unofficial Test in Mackay.
Agarawal backed Indian batters to end their recent struggles in Australia.
“They prepared as best they could or should, in their opinion, which we should trust. They will definitely face difficulties. This is a place where cricket is played very hard,” said Agarwal, who was part of India’s 2-1 win on the 2018-19 tour.
“You want to put yourself out there by saying, ‘I want to be in this tough situation, or I want to be in a situation where the chips are down and I can find a way and win the situation and win.’ game for the team,” he said.
Agarawal supported his long-time comrade K.L. Rahul, who is set to field in place of Rohit Sharma in the first Test, noted his flexibility in the batting line-up.
“The real issue here is that whenever you are going to play for India, whenever you are going to represent your national team, there will be pressure on you. There were (different) situations where he was asked to open up and play different roles,” he said.
“I give him credit: he can play anywhere. We’ve seen him do really well overseas. He is very calm and very collected. He just needs to continue to do his job, play the way he plays and just stay calm,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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