Devdutt Padikkal who had a sensational Sri Lanka series where he scored two centuries in the two Tests, opened up about his conversations with former India batter Rahul Dravid about what it takes to bat in the longest format. Padikkal is the latest India batter trying to make the No.3 Test spot his own, aiming to follow in the footsteps of Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara.

“Obviously, I’ve had a lot of conversations with him over the years in terms of batting and what it takes to really spend long hours out there. Again, it comes back to preparation and understanding what you want to do. As long as you have that clarity in your head about what your plans are and what you want to go out there and do, regardless of the position you’re batting at, it helps a lot. I think those are the conversations I’ve had with him,” he said in an interview with Star Sports.

“At the end of the day, it’s about going out there and batting. It doesn’t matter what position I’m batting at, I’m trying to contribute to the side. Yes, obviously, there have been great players who have played at number three for India over the years, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot more scrutiny on me and a lot more comparisons made. But at the end of the day, I’m going out there and just playing my cricket, and as long as I’m enjoying that, I think everything will fall into place,” he added.

Padikkal was India’s best batter on the tour of the Island nation last month with 328 runs across two Tests with two centuries. He had scored 117 in 193 balls in the second Test, his second century of the two-Test series, and was dismissed about eight overs before the end of the first day’s play. In the first Test at Galle, he had slammed 167 in the first innings and helped his team win by 165 runs.