I was very nervous: Devdutt Padikkal after his IPL maiden fifty

By
Sneha Roy
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Devdutt Padikkal (Pic Courtesy: IPLT20)

Dubai: Young opener Devdutt Padikkal made a majestic Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 debut with a dazzling fifty unveiling variety of shots and confidence in striking the ball hard and clean, the 20-year-old scored 56 runs of 42 balls to help Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) post 163 for 5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Dubai on Monday (September 21). RCB secured a 10-run victory in their opening encounter against David Warner-led SRH.

The left-handed batsman from Kerala said he was nervous before playing his first game. “I was very nervous to be honest. I was just walking in the entire room after I completed my meal. I didn’t know what to do. I was very nervous but when I came to batting, I was a bit settled. Played the first two balls and I felt good and then I kept going,” Padikkal told leggie Yuzvendra Chahal during an interaction after the match.

Padikkal added he has learnt a lot from RCB captain Virat Kohli, “It’s a great feeling to be honest. In the last one month when we were practicing, Virat bhai was talking really well to me and I’ve learned a lot. Whenever I’m with him, I’ve asked him several questions so that I can collect as much information as possible. Today when I played with Finch, it was a great feeling again. He knew that what I hitting the ball well, so he gave me the strike and shown is confidence in me so I felt good.”

After that the youngster Padikkal asked a question to Chahal about his two back to back wickets against SRH that changed the match for RCB. Speaking about that Chahal said, “It is really good and it was a very important over. I was thinking that I can either concede runs in this over or I will do something in this over. Thus, he went in the attacking mode but set up a defensive field. I had a word with Virat Bhai that I’ll attack the batsmen because we knew only by a wicket we can change the game. So I did that.

“When I bowled my first delivery, I kept it on the leg stumps because it’s tough to hit from that area. When Vijay Shankar came, Virat sir asked me to bowl a googly which I was practicing in the nets. So it was in the back of my head that if I bowl well, then there’s a chance of the wicket. As he was a new batsman, we thought it would be tough for him to read,” Chahal further added.

Then, Padikkal asked Chahal about his experience in bowling with the wet bowl to which he stated, “It was wet but I practiced before hand. Whenever we play for India, we practice bowling with the wet ball. So that was in my mind that I’ve done that before. So, I was backing myself but coming to cricket after 6 months, I was a bit nervous but I backed myself.”

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