ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Devdutt Padikkal destroys Virat Kohli's record, demands spot in CT squad with performances

Karnataka batter Devdutt Padikkal has achieved a massive feat in the history of List A cricket. He went past India National Cricket Team batters Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli to become the batter with the highest average in the format among the batters with a minimum of 2000 runs.

Karnatka batter Devdutt Padikkal achieved the feat during the semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 against Haryana on Wednesday (15th January). The match between the two teams took place at the newly built Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.

Devdutt Padikkal notched up his 7th consecutive half-century in List-A cricket

Padikkal notched up his 7th consecutive half-century in List-A cricket as he played a magnificent innings to take his team to the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. His innings helped Karnataka chase a total of 238 runs and move one step forward to the final.

Padikkal, who slammed a staggering century in the Quarter Final, played another half-century in the tournament. He played a magnificent knock of 86 runs off 113 balls. The Southpaw batted with a strike rate of around 77 and also slammed 8 fours and 1 six.

Devdutt Padikkal completes 2000 runs in List A cricket, going past average of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli

With this, Padikkal also completed 2000 runs in the List A cricket and what caught the attention of many was the average he completed the milestone with. The left-hander has an average of 82.38, which is the most in the format. He is now ahead of second-placed Ruturaj Gaikwad (58.16) and a few other modern-era greats in Michael Bevan (57.86), Virat Kohli (57.05) and AB de Villiers (53.47).

Padikkal also equalled his streak of seven fifty-plus knocks in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He also achieved the same feat during the 2021-22 season of the tournament. His current scores read: 86, 102, 114, 93*, 70, 117 and 71*

Devdutt Padikkal, who played just one match for India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, has now made his case strong for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The young batter will be fighting for the place of backup opener/ top-order batter with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

It's a format I enjoy batting in, whenever I come back to bat for Karnataka it's always a pleasure - Devdutt Padikkal

Devdutt Padikkal talked about innings, saying that he enjoys playing List-A cricket. He talked about his partnership with Smaran, saying that it was important for them to take singles. The batter also expressed disappointment about not getting a ton. Speaking after the game, he said:

"It's a format I enjoy batting in, whenever I come back to bat for Karnataka it's always a pleasure. Look to get on the front foot, it was keeping low and both me and Smaran were able to get the singles away and keep the scorecard going.

"Try to move your body towards the ball, if you hang back then you will be in trouble and I felt that he [Smaran] batted beautifully through that phase. It's always great to have that [100], but as long as Karnataka is winning, I'm happy."

Also Read: Rohit Sharma ignored BCCI’s Ranji Trophy orders? MCA official speaks on captain’s uncertain availability