Indian batter Devdutt Padikkal was brilliant at the number three spot in the Test series against Sri Lanka. The 26-year-old scored 167 and 44 in Galle, with India winning the game. He then followed it up with a knock of 117 in the only innings that India batted in the second Test and won the Player of the Series.

He was drafted into the playing XI after Sai Sudharsan was ruled out. Sreevats Goswami, the former Indian Under-19 World Cup winner in 2008, was a recent guest on former Australian skipper Michael Clarke’s Beyond 23 podcast.

While asked about Padikkal’s future, the 37-year-old Goswami said: “Indian domestic cricket is very strong, and players keep coming. The team was looking for a number three batter in Test cricket, and it seems Devdutt is the answer to it. He will solve a lot of problems for the team.”

India will play two Tests in New Zealand, and it was the Kiwis who stunned the subcontinent team in their previous red-ball series in 2024. Tom Latham’s side defeated India by 3-0, the first home Test series loss for the host nation since 2012.

Goswami said, “The upcoming New Zealand series will be a huge challenge for Gambhir as the head coach and also for the Indian batters who have struggled at home against spin bowling. They will be up against the seam attack in conditions favourable for the fast bowlers, with attacking fields and 80 overs of fast bowling.”

Adding to this, Clarke said that the current Indian cricketers aren’t great players of spin as their predecessors. “Indians have been good players of spin bowling, but because of too much T20 cricket, where there is not much spin, the current batters aren’t that good. Guys like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Sehwag, and Laxman were great against the spinners.”

Sreevats wanted Virat Kohli to continue playing Test cricket

During the course of the chat, Sreevats also said that former skipper Virat Kohli shouldn’t have retired from the Test format in 2025.

He added that Kohli could have played for a few more years and was a true ambassador of the format. Speaking about Padikkal, the batter will lead India A against Australia A in a two-match Test series.