RCB Podcast - Mayank Agarawal on the warm welcome from Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal

Mayank Agarawal was drafted into the RCB squad in May as a replacement for Devdutt Padikkal, who was ruled out of the remainder of IPL 2025 due to a hamstring injury.

There was no better way for Mayank to be introduced to the team than with words from Virat Kohli, with both of them having known each for a long time.

On an episode of Bold Diaries during the season, Virat spoke about Mayank and said, “I also had the pleasure of working with another young man from Bengaluru who started at RCB all those years ago. He broke through on the scene and did some special things for us as a young guy. He took bowlers on and was fearless and I got to know him quite a bit since then.”

He concluded with the message, “I can guarantee you that this guy will do anything and everything for this team because I know this team is very close to his heart.”

When the icon of the sport has a welcome like this for someone, it goes without saying that he has achieved something very special in his life.

Talking on the latest episode of Big Basket presents RCB Podcast: Bold & Beyond, Mayank revealed how it felt for him to be welcomed by Virat with such special words. Mayank said, “Virat’s words made me feel very very special. A person of Virat’s calibre and his stature, said such nice words, when I came to the team, it really felt good. It really made me feel special about myself. I also really appreciate the way Devdutt spoke to me as well.”

He further added, “The kind of things Devdutt said was indeed special for me because somewhere deep inside when you are working so hard, and when someone acknowledges that, it always feels special. And to have that one from a person like Virat felt amazing and then Devdutt being that personality, he’s a very nice person, even though he is very shy and quiet. But when you get to know him, for him saying these words, especially that I was replacing him, did mean a lot.”