Devdutt Padikkal delivered again when it mattered most. After disappointing outings against the Australia A cricket team at home, the middle-order batter proved his worth in away conditions against the New Zealand A cricket team.

Padikkal missed his double century by 1 run in Lincoln, but made his bid strong to become the permanent No.3 of India's Test team batting order. Ahead of the India vs New Zealand 2-match Test series, Devdutt Padikkal's 199-run knock in New Zealand for the India A cricket team could force the selectors to consider the batter.

Devdutt Padikkal credits Virat Kohli for his current form

Only a couple of years ago, Padikkal was struggling with his batting form. Far from the India National Cricket Team, the batter's place in domestic cricket teams was not secure either. There was never any doubt about his abilities and talent, but he needed some readjustments and a lot of hard work. He ddid everythingout of the limelight, silently, and now, he is receiving the much-desired result.

In his recent conversation with the media, Devdutt Padikkal credited his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Virat Kohli. Padikkal played with Virat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for RCB.

The revamped batter, Devdutt Padikkal, played crucial roles in the IPL 2025 and IPL 2026 seasons. IPL 2025 was the season when the Bengaluru-based franchise got its maiden trophy. In the next season, they successfully defended their title.

IPL 2026 was believed to be a turning point in Padikkal's career. He was aggressive with the bat. After succeeding in the white-ball matches, he is now rolling well in the longest format of the game as well.

I have learnt: Devdutt Padikkal on Virat Kohli

Batting in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) nations is never easy for any batters around the world. Concerns were there over Padikkal, as he had a bad patch against the Australia A cricket team.

Padikkal mentioned that Virat Kohli did everything in red-ball cricket. From his batting and all-over performance, whether it was for the India National Cricket Team or for the state team, Virat showed how to play in multi-day matches. Padikkal has learnt a lot from the batting superstar Virat Kohli.

"You do not necessarily have to ask him what it takes to succeed in red-ball cricket. He has shown all of us what it takes through the way he played, and that is something I have learnt from," the batter said.

Two centuries in two Tests

Devdutt Padikkal has played so far only 4 Test matches for the Indian cricket team and has scored 418 runs in 6 innings with an average of 69.66, supported by a couple of hundreds and a half-century. Both of the centuries he scored were against Sri Lanka, in Galle and Colombo in August this year.

He has played two T20 Internationals as well, but both of the matches were in July 2021. Will the selectors consider him again for the limited-overs formats? It will be interesting to see in the upcoming days.