Star Indian player Devdutt Padikkal opens up on India A’s captaincy against Australia ATake a look and read the full story to know his statements
Published: September 12, 2026, 2:39 PM IST
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Devdutt Padikkal on India A captaincy
Star Indian player and one of the finest batters of all time, Devdutt Padikkal will look to use his experience as a domestic captain when he leads India A for the first time in the upcoming four-day matches against Australia A in Puducherry.
Padikkal became Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy captain in the 2025-26 season, taking over from Mayank AgarwalHe handled the responsibility well, scoring an unbeaten 120 off 85 balls in the fourth innings against Punjab to help Karnataka chase 250 runs in just 28 overs in MohaliHe then continued his fine form in the semi-final against Uttarakhand, scoring a career-best 232 at No3 in Lucknow and earning the Player of the Match award as captain.
Devdutt Padikkal looks forward to leading India A after learning from Karnataka
After the Duleep Trophy 2026, Devdutt Padikkal reacted to get a chance to lead Team India A“Definitely, it’s a great opportunity to be the captain of India A side.”
“I’m looking forward to itI think leadership is something that I really enjoy doing, especially starting off with Karnataka last yearIt was a great learning curve for me, so I’m really looking forward to carrying that experience to 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 sideI’ve always played cricket that wayI’ve always wanted to make sure that the team winsAs a captain, that’s your sole focusYou want to make the team winThat just helps my batting even further,” he concluded.
Padikkal backs himself amid competition as Sudharsan returns to India A squad
However, star Indian player Sai Sudharsan, who was replaced by Devdutt Padikkal for the two-Test series in Sri Lanka, is now fit and back in the squad for the two-match series 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 sameIt’s important that we don’t focus too much on that and just continue to enjoy my battingAs long as I’m scoring runs, I’m happy,” he added.
Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan often play fuller balls from spinners while staying on the back footThis style has worked well for themPadikkal has played this way since he was young, so he does not feel it is risky.
“It takes a lot of hard work to go through the domestic grindThere’s a lot of high-quality cricket going on in the domestic circuitI think it’s not always noticed, but you can see thatEspecially when you look at Duleep Trophy, the amount of quality that is there and the talent that is there.”
