After becoming the third youngest scorer of an IPL hundred the 20-year-old is being tipped for international honours
India legend Sunil Gavaskar believes it is only a matter of time before Devdutt Padikkal is representing his country across all formats.
The 20-year-old became the third-youngest scorer of an Indian Premier League century when he struck an unbeaten 101 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 10-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.
The knock comes after an impressive showing in his maiden IPL in the United Arab Emirates, during which he scored 473 runs.
Padikkal backed that up with an astonishing performance in the Ranji Trophy when he scored four centuries and averaged 147.40 in seven matches for semi-finalists Karnataka.
And Gavaskar, India's ninth-highest run-scorer in all formats, is soon expected the youngster to make the step-up to international level.
"Won’t be surprised if he plays for India in any of the formats because he has got the class and the ability to do that," he told Star Sports.
"He is a heavy scorer in first-class cricket and Ranji Trophy as well gets big hundreds.
"In 50-over cricket, he gets lots of runs and hundreds. Here, in the T20 domestic tournaments, he got lots of runs. So, I won’t be surprised if he is there sooner rather than later."
Image courtesy of IPL
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