After a terrific 2018-19 domestic season, Devdutt Padikkal was carrying a sense of anticipation around him ahead of the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) and the southpaw didn’t disappoint his well-wishers.
Featuring in his maiden IPL season for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Padikkal scored 473 runs from 15 games at a strike rate of 124.80, including 5 half-centuries.
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In an exclusive chat with India Today, Padikkal reflected on his IPL 2020 campaign and said: "Did I surprise myself? In terms of my personal performance, I knew I had runs behind me and I could make an impact."
That's the confidence of the Karnataka lad, who considers former India opener Gautam Gambhir as his idol.
"I used to enjoy his (Gambhir) batting and really liked the fact that he would deliver whenever his team would require it the most. Whenever the team was under pressure you could count on him. He is one of my cricket idols," he added.
Padikkal was part of the RCB dressing room last season too but didn't get a single chance. This time, however, he played all the matches.
When asked what was captain Kohli's expectations from him, the 20-year-old replied: "I was given an idea as to what the RCB expected me to do. They knew what I had done in the domestic season, what my strengths are and they wanted me to stick to it, so basically that was the brief given to me.
"As for me, I wanted to ensure that if I get a chance I make an impact and it feels good that I could do that."
Even though he has proven his worth at the domestic level, Padikkal's career is still at an emerging stage and he will have to deliver again and again before donning the Indian jersey.
"There's a long way to go for me and there's so much I have to improve upon. It's just the beginning. Virat helped me along the way in terms of how to build innings. He asked me to continue to work hard and not let the success affect me. Keep pushing ahead and keep improving is what he told me, and that's what I am going to do.
"It's important one should continue to enjoy the game and not get caught in thoughts regarding policy and playing for the country because that's going to happen when the time is right," Padikkal said.
