Technical changes unlock Padikkal's ball-striking ability

Devdutt Padikkal averaged all of 5.42 last IPL while striking at 71.69 in the seven games he played for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He couldn't strike a single six, hit just three fours in the 53 balls he faced, and was, not surprisingly, released before the mega auction.

In six games so far for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025, Padikkal has had a couple of decent knocks that have shot up his strike rate to 140, while averaging 23.80. His unbeaten 40 off 28 balls against Rajasthan Royals (RR) helped RCB to their fourth win in six games, and made him just their second Indian batter to score 1000 IPL runs.

"I'm trying to bat differently than what I've been doing the last few years," Padikkal said after their nine-wicket win. "It's a conscious effort, and I've been working a lot in the off season to try and work on that, and change that part of my game, and hopefully, I can continue batting like this.

"Definitely, I feel this year it's been more on the technical side of things. I've always tried to mentally be in that space. But technically, there were a few things I needed to change in order to be at my best. So DK [Dinesh Karthik, batting coach] and Andy [Flower, head coach] have worked on me relentlessly over the last couple of months, and that's really working now. Being in RCB is definitely great. I love playing for them. I really care about this franchise, and hopefully, I can continue to perform for them."

RCB bought Padikkal for INR 2 crore at the auction, having had him in their squad in 2020 and 2021 - his first two IPL seasons - but with a different coaching staff. This time, Flower, director of cricket Mo Bobat, and Karthik decided to invest in him.

Padikkal now averages 65.25 against RR - a team he played for in 2022 and 2023 - which is his best against any side, and nearly twice as good as his second best: 33.37 opposite Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Padikkal's unbeaten knock, along with half-centuries from Phil Salt and Virat Kohli, gave RCB four wins out of four on the road while losing both their fixtures at home so far.

"I feel that's just coincidence," Padikkal said of RCB's home-and-away record this IPL. "We have been playing some really good cricket throughout. In T20 cricket, one or two overs can change the game, and that's what's been happening at home. We've been losing a few wickets in clusters, and that's been derailing our innings. But I feel apart from that, we're playing really good cricket, and I'm sure we'll translate that at home as well."

Bobat was all praise for Padikkal at the press conference after the game, and explained how they were looking to unlock his potential at No. 3 this season.

"The great thing about Dev is he's got a lot of batsmanship," Bobat said. "Like if you look at his record and what he's done, he knows how to build innings, [and] he knows how to bat long periods of time. People have probably seen the role that we've given him. He's been going out and trying to have a bit of an impact, which is great.

"But today, with the score that it was [chasing 174], it was a really good chance for him to get into his innings and to go through the gears as and when was appropriate. And he showed good batsmanship today. So a big part of it is adapting to conditions and situations. And I thought he did that really well today."

Bobat further said RCB went into the game - the first in Jaipur this IPL, and in the afternoon with temperatures hitting 37 degrees Celsius - with an open mind to bat or bowl first depending on the heat, but chose to bowl after consulting the senior players because it would help them assess "how the wicket played out" before figuring out how to go about their chase. Their bowling attack combined to restrict RR to 173 as four different bowlers picked a wicket each, and their bowling suggested they had adapted much better to the slow conditions in what was an away game for them.

After Gujarat Titans' record of winning five straight away games from the start of an IPL season, in 2023, RCB are second on the list with four away victories on the bounce.

"The last time I checked, you don't win the IPL for winning your home games," Bobat said when asked about their home-and-away record this IPL. "So, as far as we're concerned, a win's a win. We'll focus on the next game. We'll have good opposition to play against, [and] we've got a few days to prepare. We'll just try our best to win that next game, but more importantly, as I said earlier, we'll really focused on how we want to play.

"I think we've done well. We've won against four big teams. Certainly not many teams in the same season go to Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta, and pick up wins. So we're pretty happy with that. But look, we're not overthinking home versus away. We're playing a game of cricket. We're trying to play well. And if that gives us two points, great; we move on to the next game. So maybe other people are making more of the home and away [record] than we are."