Kohli's Star Power Diminished: Snubbed After One Test vs AUS, Emerges Strong in Champions Trophy Case with Vijay Hazare Trophy Knock

Karnataka got off to a rocky start in their pursuit of a reachable 238 runs at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. Their captain and leading run-scorer, Mayank Agarwal, was dismissed early in the innings by pacer Anshul Kamboj, who bowled a deceptive delivery that caught Agarwal LBW in the very first over.

However, Padikkal (86), who joined the Karnataka side after his return from the tour of Australia, where he played just one match, in Perth, combined impressively with Smaran (76) to stitch a 128-run stand for the third wicket as Karnataka chased down the target with 16 balls to spare, , making 238 for five.

Padikkal goes past Kohli

En route to the knock, Padikkal completed the milestone of 2000 runs in List A cricket. His average of 82.38 is now the highest in the history of the format among batters with a minimum of 2000 runs. He stands ahead second-placed Ruturaj Gaikwad (58.16) and few other modern-era greats in Michael Bevan (57.86), Virat Kohli (57.05) and AB de Villiers (53.47).

The left-hander also equalled his own streak of seven fifty-plus knocks in Vijay Hazare Trophy, thus matching his run in the 2021-22 season. His current streak spans two seasons with the score reading: 86, 102, 114, 93*, 70, 117 and 71*.

Padikkal rejoined the Karnataka side after the end of the Sydney Test match and smashed a 99-ball 102 in the quarterfinal match against Baroda. It was his first appearance in the format since 2023. He had earlier left for Australia during the first half of the Ranji Trophy tournament in October as part of the India A tour and impressed the senior team management with his knock of 88 in Mackay. He later appeared as an India No. 3 in the Perth opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series amid Shubman Gill's injury, and was not recalled into the playing XI after managing 0 and 25 in the match.

Albeit a long shot, but Padikkal certainly does make a case for a spot in the Champions Trophy squad as a back-up top-order batter. However, it remains he will have to compete against mainstay options Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, both of whom are currently vying for the primary opening spot in the potential playing XI for the tournament.

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