Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Devdutt Padikkal continued his good form as he brought up his second fifty in IPL 2020 in the game against Mumbai Indians in Dubai on Monday.
Padikkal reached his half-century with a cut shot off Keiron Pollard for four. In its opening IPL match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Aaron Finch and Padikkal had put on formidable opening stand in quick time. The normally explosive Finch had played second fiddle to IPL debutant Devdutt, who took on the attacking role with aplomb.
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“I can play whatever role the team needs. Dev (Devdutt) got off to a great start, so it was my job to give him strike. On some days, that role might be reversed,” Finch had said at the time.
The Australian was full of praise for Padikkal, who impressed with a 42-ball 56. “Dev’s composure under pressure was very important. At the start, he was a bit nervous, but he played his natural game. That was very impressive. Once the innings developed, he grew in confidence. He’s an attacking batsman who has done well in domestic and under-19 cricket. In the middle, we spoke about the game scenario, who we were matching up against, and what areas we will look to target each bowler,” he said.
Padikkal was eventually dismissed by Trent Boult for 54 off 40. His innings comprised five fours and two sixes. “Yeah, I’m looking in decent touch, wanted to contribute to the team,” said Padikkal during the mid-innings break. “Finchy was going well, my job was to give him the strike and then I had to take over when he got out. It felt amazing, it was a dream come true moment for me. The pitch is doing a bit for the spinners, it isn’t easy to play shots at times.”
