Devdutt Padikkal impressed former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly with a confident innings on his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore this Monday (September 21).
The 20-year-old left-hander from Karnataka showed why there was such great sense of anticipation around him leading into the start of the season with a brilliant innings of 56 runs in 42 deliveries while opening against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
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Padikkal's effort got RCB off to a terrific start, as he put on 90 runs for the first wicket batting alongside more experienced Aaron Finch, and helped the Virat Kohli-led side post a score of 163/5 in their 20 overs. His knock was glint with eight sumptuous fours.
"Enjoyed watching Devdutt padikkal @RCBTweets ..left handers grace so delightful", tweeted Ganguly.
Padikkal, and his great teammate AB de Villiers' (51), half-centuries gave RCB a fighting total on a surface playing bit uneven for the fast bowlers and offering some grip to the spinners.
The team eventually won by 10 runs after a confidence-boosting second half, with leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3/18) and pacer Navdeep Saini (2/25) being the stand-out performers.
RCB next face Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Thursday (September 24) in Dubai.
