Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Devdutt Padikkal on Wednesday (13th April) talked about the challenges his side will face against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Match 24 of IPL 2022. Padikkal also feels that his side is yet to play their best cricket.
RR is currently going great guns in the ongoing IPL 2022. The Sanju Samson-led side has won 3 out of their 4 matches so far and are placed on the top of the points table with 6 points to their name and a very good net run-rate.
Be it with batting or bowling, they have most of their bases covered and are leaving no stone unturned in their practice sessions. Apart from their game against RCB, which they lost by 4 wickets, they have mostly dominated the opposition and have clinched crucial moments in the game.
Read Also: Rohit Sharma under ‘mental strain of leading India which is affecting him - Graeme Smith
They are next slated to play Gujarat Titans, who also have 6 points, on Thursday (14th April) at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. Going into the match, Devdutt Padikkal will play a crucial role for his side. The 21-year-old is so far having a decent campaign. He has scored 114 runs at a strike rate of 121.27.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the match against GT, Devdutt Padikkal said that there are things that they can improve upon and progressing in every game is a great sign for them. He said that they haven’t played their best cricket yet and are looking to improve themselves to fill small gaps.
“I think there’s a lot we can improve upon. I don’t think we have played our best cricket yet. But we are progressing in every game and we are moving forward, which is a really good sign. Hopefully, we continue to improve ourselves to fill those small gaps as a team," Devdutt Padikkal said.
Padikkal said that playing a night game at DY Patil Stadium will a challenging with the dew factor in place. He’s hopeful that his side would will the match.
“It will be very different as compared to the day game. The dew factor might come into play. Like we saw last night at DY Patil, it was really a high scoring game. So, we can expect a lot of runs and hopefully, come out as winning side," he said.
The southpaw mostly batted at number three in the season before opening alongside Jos Buttler in Rajasthan’s last match against Lucknow Super Giants.
Talking about the same, Padikkal said that he’s comfortable batting at any position for the side as his main aim is to win the match for his team and they are trying to do what is best for them in the given situation.
“It’s simple. At the end of the day, we are playing towards the same goal, which is to win the game for the team. So, it doesn’t matter which position I bat at or which position others are batting. At the end of the day, we are trying to do what is the best for the team at that given situation and just giving our best and trying to enjoy to game, that’s what we are looking to do," he said.
Read Also: WATCH- Liam Livingstone gets his stumps shattered by a searing Jasprit Bumrah yorker
Lauding GT as a good side, Padikkal said that although they have a lot of all-rounders in the side, they will focus on the controllables and will try to improve the things they lacked in previous games.
“They are a really good side. They are filled with a lot of all-rounders and that could be important when playing against them. But it’s just that we have to focus on our processes, gameplan and not try to change too much from that.
“We have been playing some really good cricket throughout the tournament so far. But as I said before, there are things to improve and hopefully we can do that in this game,” he said.
Padikkal further said that his side is trying to adapt their game keeping the dew factor in mind.
“The toss is not in our control. We are learning to adapt our game keeping the dew factor in mind. Both toss and the subsequent dew in the second half of the game is out of our hands,” he concluded.
(IANS inputs)
