Team India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has heaped praise on No.3 batter Devdutt Padikkal, who smacked an exceptional century on the first day of the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka, on Saturday, August 15.
Speaking at the post-day press conference, Kotak has revealed that Padikkal has worked hard on his back foot game at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) over the past few months, which reaped benefits the Southpaw batter.
“I am so happy for him because he was actually waiting for his opportunity. The way he played here and in the warm-up match, it’s really encouraging. Preparation, I would say, overall the way Devdutt, was preparing and I saw it in the NCA (BCCI CoE) he was working on his back foot game. We try that when we expect a turn from a pitch,” Sitanshu Kotak told the reporters after first day’s play.
“We also tried to work on step-out, sweep besides the back foot game. So, a lot of credit goes to him, the way he has prepared himself for the last couple of years,” Kotak added.
When asked if Sai Sudharsan would replace Padikkal whenever he is fit and back to the Test squad, Kotak has stated that both batters are new ball batters and they are quite flexible in the top-order.
“I think Devdutt batted really well. So Sai also has been batting really well at that number. But the thing is they are all new ball batters. So they open, they go number three, so we are very flexible,” he noted.
“But I would look at the way they bat, how they are adapting to conditions, how they are dealing with the different stages of a match, and that is very important for me rather than number three or four or five,” he concluded.
