AB de Villiers Is A Treat To Watch, Says Devdutt Padikkal

Nov 15, 2020 at 2:14 PM

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AB de Villiers Is A Treat To Watch, Says Devdutt Padikkal

Devdutt Padikkal of Royal Challengers Bangalore was quite easily the find of the Indian Premier League 2020. In his maiden IPL season, he scored 473 runs averaging 31.53 with 5 fifties to not only be the highest run-scorer for RCB  just ahead of AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli but also holding the record for the most runs by a batsman in his debut IPL season. Devdutt Padikkal’s promise with the bat fetched the youngster ‘Emerging Player’ award.

Being with RCB franchise allowed 20-year-old Devdutt Padikkal to share the dressing room with two modern greats RCB skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. He was involved in several memorable partnerships with his captain, and even though he didn’t get many opportunities to bat with the South African batsman, the 20-year-old youngster cherished all his memorable learnings from the former South Africa captain.

AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli
AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. Photo Credit: BCCI/IPL.

Devdutt Padikkal: AB De Villiers Is A Special Player And Watching Him Bat Is A Treat For Eyes

Devdutt Padikkal, who was born in Kerala, made his first-class debut for Karnataka in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy. He became the first player in IPL history to score three fifties in his first four matches. He made his List A debut for Karnataka in the 2019–20 Vijay Hazare Trophy where he was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 609 runs in eleven matches.

In October 2019, he was named in India A’s squad for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy. He made his Twenty20 debut on November 2019, for Karnataka in the 2019–20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

“He’s a special player. Just watching him bat is a treat for your eyes. Throughout the season, he kept telling me to stay in the zone and continue to do what I was doing,” Devdutt Padikkal told ESPNCricinfo.

“I remember when we were travelling back from the Mumbai [Indians] game in which I got the 70 [74], he sent me a text message saying, ‘Continue to do that and you’re playing really well, just stay in the zone and enjoy yourself’.”

Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal. Image Credit: Getty Images.

“That was really special because, coming from him, it was a great honour. I really enjoyed batting with him whenever I could because he makes your job so easy. He just takes on the bowlers from ball one and I enjoyed watching him.”

Devdutt Padikkal was part of the RCB setup last year too, but he was on the sidelines watching his team finishing last in the group stage with 11 points from 5 wins, 8 losses and 1 no-result.

Devdiutt Padikkal Made Sure To Take Responsibility Whenever Chance Came

This time around, however, Devdutt Padikkal entered IPL on the back of a solid reputation of being the leading run-scorer in both the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournaments – India’s premier domestic one-day and T20 competitions. Devdutt Padikkal admitted to working hard towards the mental aspects rather than adjusting on a technical or physical side.

“It was more [about] the mental side of the game, because after a certain point the physical aspect is in a set place. Then it’s more about how you handle the pressure and the situation,” the youngster said.

Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal. Photo Credit: BCCI/IPL.

“So that’s what I was working on and whenever I got a chance, even in domestic tournaments, I wanted to make sure that I took responsibility and tried to take the team home even though there were some international cricketers in our Karnataka side.

“That’s something I really wanted to work on because I knew that when I came into the IPL, there will be big players around and I knew I’d want to be the one to take the responsibility,” Devdutt Padikkal said.

In fact, with 473 runs in 15 matches, 20-year-old Devdutt Padikkal is only the second uncapped player in the history of IPL to amass more than 400 runs in his debut season. Before him only Shreyas Iyer did so, scoring 439 runs for Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils) in 2015 in 14 matches averaging 33.76.

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