BENGALURU: Devdutt Padikkal has always been blessed with the gift of timing, the ease with which runs used to flow from his blade. But in the game’s format, the southpaw has, in the past, tended to lack the power. The past, though, is now a tiny dot in the rearview mirror. Now, he’s showing why he deserves a place in the India side. Over the last year and a bit, the 25-year-old has undergone a complete transformation.
The Kerala-born Karnataka cricketer, who had appeared lost after winning the emerging player of the year award in the league in his debut season in 2020 (473 runs at 124.8), is now batting as if there’s a light around him. On Friday night, under the M Chinnaswamy lights, he stood out even when batting with one of India’s greatest — Virat Kohli. The game began with a fine B Sai Sudharsan century. Kohli, who has had another good start to the season, played some glorious shots in his 44-ball 81. But the highlight came from the innings sandwiched between Sudharsan and Kohli. Padikkal’s 27-ball 55 really was that good. It had timing, finesse, grace and, yes, power.
In an earlier avatar, Padikkal used to get into the innings, avoiding aerial shots till he assessed the pitch and the conditions. Not these days. Now, it’s all about setting the tempo and showing bowlers who’s the boss. Off the first ball he faced, he flicked one Kagiso Rabada off his pads over deep square leg for six. In the dugout, both Dinesh Karthik and Andy Flower may have allowed themselves a smile because Padikkal’s evolution also shows the influence of the coaching set-up in the game’s shortest format. “He has a very smooth swing, long levers and all the ingredients required to play big shots,” Karthik had told Star earlier this month.
“For him, it’s about ensuring those elements remain consistent in practice. Because he bats in the middle order, he often gets fewer balls in a match compared to top-order batters. So, in the nets, it’s important that he faces enough deliveries and stays in good rhythm.”
Karthik, since swapping the bat for a leadership role in the coaching group, is playing a huge role in getting the batting group to understand what they are capable of. In training sessions before matchdays, he works with the unit. He also gives one-to-one sessions. He has worked a lot with the likes of Padikkal and it’s showing. In multiple interviews over the last year, he has spoken about how Karthik has unlocked this facet of his game. An over later, he got down on one knee to loft Mohammed Siraj over cover for six. The gossamer touch had livened up the proceedings as the capacity crowd rose up as one to applaud one of the shots of the evening. He was just getting started as he went on a sequence of 4, 6, 1, 6, 0, 6 and 6, the last two of those coming against Rashid Khan.
The first of those maximums came over cover. The second over deep square leg. The pitch, watered extensively on Thursday evening, didn’t have much in it for the spinners but Khan is a wily operator. Not on this night, though. A 20-ball half-century came at the end of that sequence and a tricky chase of 206 was reduced to a procession very quickly. He wasn’t there at the end but that’s the other thing about his batting. He’s unburdened because he knows exactly what’s needed of him and that’s knocks like this. His remit isn’t to stay till the end but get ahead of the curve and set it up for the finishers like he did. And he’s doing it in barely believable fashion. Since making his IPL debut in 2020 till the end of the 2024 season, he managed only 42 sixes. Since last year, he has already cleared the ropes 27 times. A lot of people overlook the fact that he actually has two India caps in the shortest format; two matches played in the space of 24 hours during a Covid-era tour to Sri Lanka. But there’s a world of difference between that Padikkal and the one on TV screens across India these days.
Brief scores: GT 205/3 in 20 ovs (Sai Sudharsan 100, Shubman Gill 32, Jos Buttler 25) lost to RCB 206/5 in 18.5 ovs (Kohli 81, Padikkal 55).
