IPL 2021: Brian Lara backs Devdutt Padikkal to score big in the tournament
Former West Indian batting legend Brian Lara has praised Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman Devdutt Padikkal. Lara stated that the young southpaw needs a little refining, but praised the left-hander for being consistent. Born in 2000, the young batsman from Karnataka has been making a lot of noise in domestic cricket recently.
During the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, he scored four successive centuries for Karnataka and also helped them to qualify for the semifinals. Last season of the IPL, he made his debut and made an instant impression. Padikkal won the award for the emerging player, which is given to the best young player.
Playing for RCB and opening the batting, he scored 473 runs at an average of 31.53 from his 15 matches to go with five fifties. Lara made a point that Padikkal lent Virat Kohli support with precision.
“He’s (Padikkal) such a great talent. Last year, he got a couple of fifties, he batted well, he supported Virat Kohli very well,” Lara was quoted as saying in Star Sports’ Select Dugout.
Lara wants Devdutt Padikkal to get a couple of tons in the IPL 2021
Paddikal further went on to score 737 runs in seven matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021. Unfortunately, he was tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of IPL 2021. He missed RCB’s first match but made a comeback in the second match. “A few little things to iron out. I hope he did that in the break and comes back really storming hard for this IPL,” Lara said during the interaction.
Lara said that he wishes for Padikkal to get a few centuries during the ongoing season of the IPL. So far, Padikkal has played one match and scored 11 runs off 13 balls.
“What I want to see in the 2021 IPL is for him to go on and get a few Player of the Match awards and get a couple of triple figures under his belt. Such a great little player,” Lara added.
Padikkal will next play for the Challengers in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday, April 18 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
