Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman Devdutt Padikkal while talking about his match-winning hundred against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match 16 of IPL 2021 said that he was keen to contribute to the team’s victory.
Devdutt Padikkal had tested positive for COVID-19 before the start of the IPL 14. He had to undergo a quarantine and multiple tests before rejoining the squad and missed RCB’s first game against Mumbai Indians (MI).
The 20-year-old returned to RCB’s playing XI in their second game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and scored only 11 runs followed by 25 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Chennai.
However, in their latest encounter against Rajasthan Royals (RR), the young Karnataka opener racked up his maiden IPL hundred and stitched 181 runs opening partnership with skipper Virat Kohli, who became the first batsman to score 6000 runs in IPL, and helped RCB thump the Sanju Samson-led RR team by 10 wickets and register their fourth consecutive win of the season.
Talking about his knock at the post-match presentation, RCB opener Devdutt Padikkal said that this hundred is special for him as he was keen to contribute to the team’s win after missing the first match. He added that the wicket was great to bat and they got a great start.
“It’s been special. I could only wait my turn. When I was down with COVID, all I was thinking of ways to come here and play the first match here. I couldn’t do that but was keen to contribute to the team’s win.
“The wicket was coming on really well and we got a good start. When you get into a partnership like that, it helps as runs come from both ends,” Devdutt Padikkal said during the post-match presentation.
Padikkal said that he was not worried about getting his hundred and told Virat Kohli to finish the match as he wouldn’t mind missing out on a hundred as long as the team wins.
“Not really, that’s what I was telling Virat to go for it. For me it’s not about getting to a hundred, I wouldn’t mind missing out on hundreds as long as I contribute to the team’s wins. Throughout the innings, there were times when he was going better and then I was going better. Rotation of strike is important. We just clicked well,” he said.
For his knock of 101 runs, Devdutt Padikkal was awarded the Man of the Match. The southpaw will next be seen in action in RCB’s next match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on 25th April at Mumbai.
(ANI Inputs)
