Padikkal starred with the bat in India’s 1-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka last month.
It is an incredibly exciting phase in Devdutt Padikkal's career. His stellar form at No. 3 spot during the Sri Lanka Test tour—including 167 in Galle and 117 in Colombo—has firmly established him as a frontline option for India's red-ball future.
The southpaw is now set to lead India A in two four-day games against Australia A, starting September 22 in Puducherry. Taking over the India A captaincy is the perfect platform for him to showcase his leadership capabilities.
In fact, Padikkal has openly expressed that leadership brings out the best in him, having previously found immense success captaining Karnataka in the domestic circuit.
"Definitely, it's a great opportunity to be the captain of India A side," Padikkal was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo after the Duleep Trophy final in which his side, South Zone under Tilak Varma, suffered a defeat against East Zone at Chepauk on the basis of first-innings lead.
"I'm looking forward to it. I think leadership is something that I really enjoy doing, especially starting off with Karnataka last year. It was a great learning curve for me, so I'm really looking forward to carrying that experience to the India A set-up as well,” he added.
"Captaincy is just an added responsibility to go out there and make sure that I'm helping the side. I've always played cricket that way. I've always wanted to make sure that the team wins. As a captain, that's your sole focus. You want to make the team win. That just helps my batting even further," he further remarked.
When a toe stress fracture sidelined Sai Sudharsan right before the two-Test series in Sri Lanka, the door swung open for Padikkal. The Karnataka left-hander batter capitalized on the opportunity, demonstrating remarkable form at one-down spot.
However, Padikkal downplayed the talks of rivalry between him and Sudharsan, who is also part of the India A squad for multi-day games against Australia A.
“I think there's always been tough competition for spots in Indian cricket. I think it's never really come down, and it's always going to be the same. It's important that we don't focus too much on that and just continue to enjoy my batting. As long as I'm scoring runs, I'm happy,” Padikkal stated.