Happy Birthday Devdutt Padikkal: A look at young opener’s top IPL performances – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Devdutt Padikkal is a part of the elite club of players who have fetched a half-century in their debut  Indian Premier League game. After starting his IPL journey for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2020, the Kerala-born cricketer has played impressive knocks in his 46 appearances so far.

In his first season, Padikkal became the top performer for RCB, scoring 473 runs in 15 appearances including 5 half-centuries. The second season was also quite a joy for the opener as he surpassed Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, and the legendary MS Dhoni to become the third quickest Indian player to breach the 1,000-run mark in IPL.

After playing a couple of seasons for the Bangalore-based franchise, he was bought by inaugural season champions Rajasthan Royals this year. Partnering with Jos Buttler, the Indian opener has grabbed attention multiple times with his remarkable performances in the latest edition.

Today, on his 22nd birthday, let’s take a look at the young opener’s top batting performances in IPL:

101 runs against Rajasthan Royals in 2021: Devdutt Padikkal notched this maiden IPL ton against his current team, Rajasthan Royals, in 2021. While chasing down 177 runs, Padikkal joined hands with Virat Kohli to guide RCB to a 10-wicket win. In the 181-run partnership, the southpaw smashed 101 runs off 52 deliveries, including 11 boundaries and 6 maximums.

74 runs against Mumbai Indians in 2020: One of his best innings came on the track of Abu Dhabi when the young batter remained calm in a high pressure situation and went on to score a crucial 45-ball 74 against Mumbai Indians. Riding on the only mention-worthy knock, RCB put up 164 runs on the board but couldn’t defend it. The five-time champions chased it easily to win the match by 5 wickets.

70 runs against Chennai Super Kings in 2021:  Padikkal shone with the bat once again and played a crucial knock for RCB. He registered 70 runs facing 50 deliveries and this, along with a half-century from Kohli, led the franchise to post 156 runs. Padikkal’s innings was laced with 5 fours and 3 sixes. However, Bangalore lost the game by 6 wickets.

56 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2020: In his debut appearance, Padikkal displayed good composure and guided the side to put up a challenging total after the early dismissals of Aaron Finch and Virat Kohli. He clinched a half-century and made 56 runs off 42 deliveries, including 8 boundaries. Powered by his brilliant show, RCB posted 163 on the score sheet and won the match by 10 runs.

54 runs against Delhi Capitals in 2022: Padikkal’s first and only fifty for Rajasthan came on an occasion when the eyes were on the other opener, Jos Buttler. While Buttler went hard on Delhi’s bowling attack smashing a 65-ball 116, the southpaw became his perfect partner. Padikkal scored 54 at an impressive 150-plus strike rate. While chasing down the mammoth 223-run target, Delhi started well but fell 15 runs short in the end.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.