IND vs ENG 2024: Devdutt Padikkal reveals how stomach illness made him love the game more than before

Young Indian batter Devdutt Padikkal, who made his debut in the fifth and final Test against England in Dharamsala, shared insights about how he returned after battling through injury-induced setbacks. 

Padikkal was facing an acute intestinal issue in 2022, which resulted in him missing out on a lot of cricket, with the condition testing both his mental and physical health. However, his brilliant comeback in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season got him the much-deserved Indian Test cap. The cricketer opened up about his time away from the game due to injury.

"Technically I made a couple of small changes but mentally yes, I made the changes. I wanted to ensure that I enjoyed the game a lot more because the last couple of years I couldn't play that often and missing on games made me realize how much I missed the sport," he said.

Also read: I got the message the previous night saying that there was a possibility I could be playing: Devdutt Padikkal

"During sickness, I couldn't do much but I still wanted to make sure I am not lagging behind in other areas and I continued to work on myself whether mentally or any other small thing," Padikkal added.

The youngster gave credit to his discipline upon his return. "I have always believed that discipline is key to success in anything that you do. Whether your practice or day-to-day habits or food. I have tried to be disciplined and that was my main goal.

The left-hander scored a brilliant half-century on his debut innings but couldn't reach his ton and was dismissed on 65 runs by Shoaib Bashir. He along with Sarfaraz Khan put up a brilliant partnership to give India a lead in the match.

Talking about his performance he said: "Every boundary is enjoyable but the first boundary, off the edge, was most enjoyable because those were my first runs in Test cricket (laughs)."

Also read: Ravi Ashwin delivers wonderful speech on Devdutt Padikkal's Test debut

India won the Test match in style by defeating the visitors by an innings and 64 runs. The hosts clinched the series by a 4-1 margin with Kuldeep Yadav being awarded the Player of the Match award for his contribution with both ball and bat. Yashasvi Jaiswal won the Player of the Series for his contribution with the bat, as he scored 712 runs in the series.