Family elated over Devdutt Padikkal's Test debut

When India's playing XI for the fifth and final Test against England at Dharamsala was announced on Thursday morning, a pleasant surprise was in store for Devdutt Padikkal's family in Bengaluru. Their joy and excitement knew no bounds as the left-hand batter, who has been performing consistently for Karnataka in the domestic circuit, was handed his Test cap by veteran spinner Ravinchandran Ashwin.

"When Dev phoned us last night he was not sure about playing. We expected that Rajat Patidar would be given another chance. When a friend who had gone to Dharamsala to watch the Test sent me a congratulatory message, I thought he was pulling my leg. When I switched on the TV, we saw Dev receiving his Test cap from Ashwin," said Devdutt's father Babunu Kunnath.

When asked whether he regretted the decision to not travel to Dharamsala to watch the Test, Babunu said, "Not at all. We love watching him play on the television. We rarely go to stadiums for his matches. We've not watched a single IPL game at a stadium. Dev's mother Ambili is not at home. His elder sister works with Dream11 and she is in Mumbai at present. She might go to Dharamsala in a day or two," he said.

Born in Edappal in Kerala's Malappuram district to Babunu and Ambili, Devdutt’s tryst with cricket began when his family decided to move from Hyderabad to Bangalore to provide him with a better cricketing opportunity.

"To be honest, Dev did not expect a call-up to the Indian Test side. He is a great admirer of the longest format of the game and playing Test cricket has always been his ultimate dream. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, he played only in four matches. However, he came up with a string of good performances for Karnataka in those matches and earned the attention of national selectors. The pitch in Dharamsala does not appear to be batting-friendly. We hope he will grab the opportunity and do well. We are waiting for his batting," Babunu added.

The 23-year-old Devdutt made his India debut in 2021 during a T20 international against Sri Lanka. He is the fifth Indian player to make a Test debut in the ongoing home series against England.

The southpaw, who previously played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, will turn up for Lucknow Super Giants in the 17th edition of the glitzy league scheduled to begin on March 22.