India tour of Sri Lanka 2021: Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad excited about their maiden India call-up

New Delhi, June 25: Young India cricketers Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad are excited about maiden India call-ups in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka for the limited-overs series and have been spending a lot of time at the gym after completing their quarantine.

Karnataka players Devdutt Padikkal, Krishnappa Gowtham and young Maharashtra batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad are amongst those too earned their maiden call ups in the national team.

Talking about his time in the quarantine before joining his teammates ahead of leaving for the island nation, Padikkal revealed the players tried to keep themselves fit in their room but admitted that the training is better at the gym.

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"Yeah, it has been great. Even in quarantine, we were trying to do as much as possible in our room, but it (training) is much better here in the gym and it is good to get out there and have a good session," said Padikkal, himself a flamboyant batsman.

Gowtham, on his part, said that it was good to train with his Karnataka teammate.

"We play for Karnataka, so we exactly know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Training with him (Padikkal) again, which was fun, but he needs to pick some more weight, so hope he gets stronger," quipped Gowtham.

Young Maharashtra batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad described his India call-up as a dream-come-true moment. "We were waiting for this for so many years, the place where you want to be, you work hard for that and when you get to know you are finally there, obviously it feels very nice," said Gaikwad, who hails from Pune.

Tamil Nadu's new spin sensation Varun Chakravarthy said representing the country is always a special feeling. "Because there have been lots of seasoned players in this tour and working out just next to them in the gym is a special feeling, it is definitely a dream come true for me," the leg-break bowler said.

"I am ready to go and if I get a chance, I will give my 100 per cent." The Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian team will play three ODIs and as many T20Is against Sri Lanka in Colombo, starting from July 13.