Delhi: The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is waiting to announce the 15-member Indian squad for the Champions Trophy until the end of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. But, it seems that the headache for the selectors is increasing due to the excellent performance of the new players every day of this tournament. Karnataka batsman Devdutt Padikkal has strengthened his claim by playing another brilliant innings.
Seventh consecutive fifty
On Wednesday, Padikkal scored his seventh consecutive fifty in the Vijay Hazare Trophy to take his team to the finals. Karnataka had a poor start while chasing the target of 238 runs at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. Captain Mayank Agarwal returned to the pavilion in the first over itself. However, Padikkal (86 runs) along with Smaran (76 runs) made a partnership of 128 runs for the third wicket and the team reached the target at the loss of 5 wickets with 16 balls remaining.
Padikkal left Kohli behind
During this innings, Padikkal completed 2000 runs in List A cricket. His average of 82.38 is now the highest among batsmen who have scored more than 2000 runs in the history of this format. He left behind stalwarts like Ruturaj Gaikwad (58.16), Michael Bevan (57.86), Virat Kohli (57.05) and AB de Villiers (53.47).
Padikkal equaled his own record of seven consecutive fifty plus scores in Vijay Hazare Trophy. This trend of his was also seen in the 2021-22 season. This time his scores were as follows: 86, 102, 114, 9370, 117 and 71,
Hope of getting a place in the Champions Trophy
There is little possibility of Padikkal being selected as a backup opener in the Champions Trophy team, but his performance has forced the selectors to think. He will have to fight hard to make his place against strong contenders like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubhman Gill.
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