India’s young opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal who is part of the Indian limited-overs team in Sri Lanka stated that he is looking forward to spending time with coach Rahul Dravid.
“Being from the same school, the first time I actually met him was in one of our Sports Day events, where I had to present him with a bouquet – that is when I spoke to him for the first time,” Padikkal said on a TV channel.
“I have always been awestruck by how incredibly calm and gentle a human being he is. To have achieved so much in cricket and to be so down to earth, humble and kind towards everyone is incredible to watch,” added the 21-year-old, who plays for Karnataka, the state Dravid represented.
Padikkal scored 737 runs with four consecutive centuries in Viday Hazare trophy earlier this year.
He also impressed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 — 473 runs in 15 matches and in IPL 2021 — 195 runs in six matches.
“To have him as our coach, you couldn’t ask for anything more, and to have a mentor like him beside you, it’s just a great feeling, and hopefully I can pick up a lot of things from him,” said Padikkal.
