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Prior to 2026, Devdutt Padikkal’s champion strike-rate successful the IPL was 150.60 (2025). That fig was a important upgrade from his erstwhile champion of 130.50 from 2023.
But successful Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s duplicate victories this season, Padikkal has struck astatine a whopping 201.81 and made 2 half-centuries.
After good campaigns successful the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy (543 runs astatine an mean of 60.33) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (725 runs astatine 90.62), the 25-year-old’s effort volition lone burnish his increasing estimation arsenic an elite all-format batter.
“It’s a batch of hard enactment and self-belief that has helped maine get here,” Padikkal said astir unlocking his T20 potential. “It wasn’t casual initially. I had to alteration from the instauration onwards, considering the benignant of cricket I wanted to play increasing up. But RCB has been large successful guiding me.”
The standout features person been Padikkal’s acceleration and shot-making range. Against CSK connected Sunday (April 5, 2026), connected a lax pitch, helium was 16 disconnected 15 balls astatine 1 stage. He ended up with 50 from 29, mounting the signifier for Tim David’s murderous, unbeaten 25-ball 70.
There was a dextrous clip implicit short-fine disconnected Jamie Overton, a beauteous creation down the way to motorboat Noor Ahmad implicit long-on, and an adept speechmaking of a slower transportation from Shivam Dube to nonstop it implicit wide long-off.
“Even past season, we had a mates of games [at Chinnaswamy] wherever we struggled aboriginal on,” Padikkal said. “We had a speech that we needed to sphere wickets due to the fact that erstwhile the shot gets older, it’s easier to bat.”
“We were not 3 oregon 4 down by the 10-over people [vs. CSK], and erstwhile we managed that, we could conscionable spell astatine each ball”.
