Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad has showered praise on India’s No.3 batter Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 211 runs across both innings of the first Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Speaking on Sony Sports Network, Prasad hailed Padikkal’s superlative performance in the first innings as he went on to score a 167-run knock to turn the tide in India’s favour. He went on to observe that Padikkal didn’t play a single shot across the line.
“You can’t take any credit away from that performance. Superlative performance. He was solid in his defence, in his shot selection, and there was not a single shot that he played across. It was all through the line, with the spin, using his feet, playing on both sides,” Venkatesh Prasad told Sony Sports Network.
Furthermore, Prasad has insisted that Padikkal has been pretty serious about his batting throughout the season. Padikkal had an exceptional 2025–26 Ranji Trophy season, highlighted by a marathon career-best 232 runs off 330 balls against Uttarakhand in the semi-final. He amassed 543 runs across 10 innings at a strong average of 60.33.
“It shows a man in form throughout the season. We spoke about that, and I already said that he got a lot of runs in the domestic circuit and then carried on that form and momentum into the shorter format. He brought it here and got a hundred in the warm-up game as well. His focus and concentration have been fantastic. He is extremely serious about his batting, so it is great to see. Also, having a left-hander gives an advantage to the team as well,” he added.
