Two weeks into the IPL, Indian youngsters have already made a mark to grab eyeballs. Priyam Garg, Ravi Bishnoi, Shivam Mavi, Devdutt Padikkal are a few players who have shown promise. Among them, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Padikkal has been the most consistent. The southpaw (63) alongside skipper Virat Kohli (72 not out) stitched a 99-run partnership for the second wicket to steer the team to victory against Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
It was their third win in four games. Chasing 155, Kohli & Co won by eight wickets and five balls to spare. Barring the match against Kings XI Punjab, the Karnataka opener’s maiden season has got off to a great start with three fifties in four matches. He never looked back after his first six off Jaydev Unadkat in the second ball he faced. His innings comprised six fours and one six.
Apart from Padikkal’s form, Bangalore will heave a sigh of relief with Kohli getting back into his rhythm. After scoring 18 in first three matches, he scored an unbeaten fifty against Steve Smith & Co. The skipper took his time in the middle but runs started to flow in the latter half of his innings with Kohli dealing in boundaries.
Bangalore’s bowlers were on the money, removing Steve Smith, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler inside four overs to leave Rajasthan at 31/3. Brief scores: Rajasthan 154/6 in 20 ovs (Lomror 47; Chahal 3/24) lost to Bangalore 158/2 in 19.1 ovs (Kohli 72 n.o, Padikkal 63).