"A moment beyond words and a day beyond dreams"- Devdutt Padikkal after making his Test debut in 5th IND vs ENG Test in Dharamshala
Young Indian batter Devdutt Padikkal was ecstatic after receiving his debut Test cap in the fifth Test against England in Dharamshala on Thursday (March 7). He replaced Rajat Patidar in the playing XI for this game.
Captain Rohit Sharma confirmed at the toss that Rajat suffered an ankle injury on Wednesday, due to which he was not available for selection. He also made his debut in this series during the second Test in Vizag.
However, he failed miserably in all three games, with scores of 32, 9, 5, 0, 17, and 0, which raised questions about his place in the side. An injury concern made things easier for the management. It gave them the opportunity to bring in Devdutt Padikkal, who has been in red-hot form in domestic cricket this season.
The Karnataka batter received his debut cap this morning in the team huddle before the game from Ravichandran Ashwin. Devdutt Padikkal took to his official Instagram handle after stumps on Day 1. He expressed gratitude for getting a chance to make his India debut with a post, captioning it:
"A moment beyond words and a day beyond dreams. 314🧢"
"Guard it, cherish it, and express yourself"- Ravichandran Ashwin's message to Devdutt Padikkal
Before presenting debut cap to Devdutt Padikkal, Ashwin gave a speech shedding light on the journey of the youngster. He lauded Padikkal for fighting through the challenges and making it to the Indian Test side and wished him well. In a video uploaded by BCCI, Ashwin said:
“As a very young kid who came on, burst onto the scene, captivated the imagination of a lot of people through T20 cricket, came up through the ranks as the star-studded boy from his state. He went through something that a youngster will also always find hard to go to. Physical trauma literally was found hanging in balance whether he would play cricket."
Ashwin continued:
"Life has been very kind, he has fought through it. Maybe that’s what makes you a much more harder individual and a harder cricketer to go through life. Today, he is standing amongst us, going to make his debut in this wonderful setting along with my 100th Test. Today is your day. Guard it, cherish it, and express yourself.”
India dominated the proceedings on Day 1 as they bundled England for 218 and then reached 135/1 at stumps. They have already won the five-match series, leading 3-1.