Rising Star: Lesser-know facts about RCB sensation Devdutt Padikkal
A shy, unassuming left-handed batsman, Devdutt Padikkal is a left-handed batsman who oozes class and confidence. He started playing cricket at the age of 11 and is slowly laddering the ranks to create a place for himself in the Indian cricket team. Padikkal made his much-awaited Indian Premier League debut for the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday (September 21) against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The young lad had an impressive start as he smashed the SRH bowlers to all corners of the ground. In his very first appearance for RCB, he scored his maiden half-century and took his team to victory in their first game of 2020. Devdutt has been unstoppable in the IPL so far as he once again smashed a half-century in a match against the Mumbai Indians. With excellent domestic records and a good start to his IPL career, the 20-year-old is already being considered as the next big thing in the Indian cricket.
Here are some interesting facts to know about youngster Devdutt Padikkal:
1. Born in Kerala
Padikkal was born in a small town named Edappal in Kerala on July 7, 2000. Along with his family, he moved to Hyderabad when he was young before eventually settling in Bangalore. His cricket journey began quite early as he started training at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket.
2. Has studied in the same school as Rahul Dravid
Devdutt is a big fan of veteran Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid and has looked up to him as his mentor and idol from a young age. Coincidentally, both hail from the same state, Karnataka and have completed their schooling from the same school, St Joseph’s Boys school.
3. Stint with Karnataka Premier League
Padikkal first came into the limelight while playing for the Ballari Tuskers in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) in 2017. He scored an impressive 53- ball 72 against Bengaluru Blasters that year as an opening batsman. The stunning performance led him to win the Emerging Player award during that season.
4. Won the ‘Best Batsman’ award in 2018
After his heroics in the KPL, Padikkal kept piling runs for the Karnataka U-19 team. He was even awarded the ‘Best Batsman’ award in 2018 by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for his exemplary performances in the U19 Cooch Behar Trophy 2018-19. He finished that tournament as the fourth-highest run-getter with 829 runs in his kitty.
5. A stellar season for Karnataka in 2019-20
The 2019-2020 domestic season can be considered as the golden year in Devdutt’s cricket career. He emerged as Karnataka’s top run-getter with 1838 runs under his name across all the formats. The southpaw contributed 42.7% and 36.13% to Karnataka’s total tally of runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy respectively.
6. Most number of sixes in the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Apart from being the leading run-getter in 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 580 runs, Padikkal also smashed the most number of sixes (33) which helped Karnataka in winning their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title.
7. Bought by RCB in IPL Auction 2019
Not many know that RCB paid a mere amount of INR 20 lakhs to acquire the services of the dynamic batsman in the 2019 auction. He didn’t get to play a single game for the Men in Red in IPL 2019 but was lucky enough to share the dressing room with greats like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
8. Selected in India A squad for the 2019-20 Deodhar Trophy
A decent performance in the domestic circuit for Karnataka earned the 20-year-old a place for the first time in the India A squad for the Deodhar Trophy 2019-20 held in Ranchi.
9. Half-century on debut in all three formats
Devdutt also has a unique record of smashing half-centuries on his debut in First-class, List A, T20 and IPL to his name. He scored 77, 58, 53* and 56 runs while playing his first First-class, List A, T20 and IPL game respectively.
10. Handy right-arm off-break bowler
Padikkal is known to be capable enough to provide much-needed breakthroughs with his right-arm off-break bowling.
