The 19-year-old Padikkal finished the domestic List A tournament with 609 runs in 11 innings.
After clinching the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Karnataka skipper Manish Pandey heaped praise on Devdutt Padikkal, who finished the domestic List A tournament as the highest run-scorer with 609 runs in 11 innings, including two centuries and five fifties.
"When you see young guys like Devdutt [Padikkal] getting the most runs in the tournament, it feels really awesome for me as a captain," Manish said while addressing a press conference after his side beat Tamil Nadu in the final by 60 runs (VJD method) to win the title.
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In his third List A outing, Padikkal scored 60 against Hyderabad but failed to get his team over line while chasing a paltry target of 199. After this setback, the 19-year-old became more determined and compiled two unbeaten hundreds.
"I think what changed him [Devdutt] as a batsman was definitely the Hyderabad game, the one we lost, because he was batting well till then. He was getting those fifties," the Karnataka captain pointed.
"I think his mindset changed (in a way that) his focus was to bat till the end and get those big hundreds for us. I think that's what has happened. That one game against Hyderabad hit him quite a bit because he was the only (remaining) batsman to bat till the end. If he had batted through, we would have won. It was a learning game for him. I'm glad he overcame that and batted the way he batted the whole tournament. I think he is a great asset to have up the order and I'm very happy with his performances," he continued.
Apart from Padikkal, India star KL Rahul also shined with the bat, amassing 598 in the competition at an average of 66.44 while Abhimanyu Mithun hogged the limelight with the ball, claiming 20 wickets at 22 apiece including a hat-trick in the summit clash.
Hailing the collective effort of his troops, Manish said: "Everybody put their hard work towards this championship. I thought, to start with, the bowlers, batsmen, everybody had a goal in mind. We got the support of the senior guys; we're always there and looking to do well for Karnataka all the time. This is what makes us a good team. And whoever comes in wants to perform, be it the bowlers or the batsmen. I think the camaraderie that we have is amazing. Glad to have a team like this."
Captain Pandey himself finished the tournament with 525 runs at a phenomenal average of 105 and impressive strike-rate of 108.02.
Talking about his own form, the Karnataka veteran said: "It's [been] a good season for me. I thought if I'm batting No.4, I had to be there till the end, take the extra responsibility for the team's cause. Little sad I didn't get to bat in the last couple of matches; I was very eager to bat. But if the team is doing well and the boys are scoring and performing well, I'm very happy to be sitting here with the championship."
(Inputs from Cricbuzz)