Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Devdutt Padikkal was easily the find of the 2020 Indian Premier League. In his first IPL season, Padikkal scored 473 runs to not only be the top run scorer for RCB, but also holds the record for the most runs by a batter in his first IPL season. Padikkal took off four five half centuries and the promise shown by the young man earned him the ‘Emerging Player’ award.
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Being with RCB gave Padikkal the opportunity to share the dressing room with two modern greats: Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Padikkal was involved in several memorable partnerships with his captain, and although he didn’t hit much with De Villiers, the 20-year-old appreciated all the learnings from the former South African captain.
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“He is a special player. Just watching him hit is a treat for your eyes. Throughout the season, he kept telling me to stay in the zone and to keep doing what I was doing, ”Padikkal told ESPNCricinfo.
“I remember when we were traveling back from Mumbai [Indians] game where i got 70 [74], he texted me saying, ‘Keep doing that and you’re playing great, just stay in the zone and have fun. That was really special because, coming from him, it was a great honor. I really enjoyed hitting with him whenever I could because he makes your job so easy. He just takes on the bowlers from the first ball and I enjoyed watching. “
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Padikkal was part of the RCB setup last year but was on the sidelines watching his team crumble. This time, Padikkal entered the IPL with a solid reputation for being the leading scorer of races in the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournaments, India’s major national one-day and T20 competitions. More than any technical aspect, Padikkal admitted to having worked on the mental.
“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 to handle the pressure and the situation, ”said the young man.
“So that’s what I was working on and whenever I had the opportunity, even at national tournaments, I wanted to make sure I took responsibility and tried to bring the team home even though there were some international cricketers on our side of Karnataka. That’s something I really wanted to work on because I knew that when I got to the IPL, there would be great players around and I knew that I would want to be the one to take responsibility.
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