I wanted to make sure I give a good start – Devdutt Padikkal decodes his first fifty in IPL 2025

Devdutt Padikkal’s batting display went a couple of notches higher in New Chandigarh as the RCB southpaw scored his first half-century of the season. Padikkal smashed 61 off 25 balls, hitting five fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 174.29 to spearhead RCB’s batting belligerence against the Punjab Kings' bowling unit, helping stabilize the ship for RCB after the visitors lost Phil Salt early in the 158-run chase.

Talking in the post-match interview, Padikkal opened up on the importance of a good start and said, "It was important when I went in that I built a partnership with Virat. These small totals can be tricky and I wanted to make sure I give a good start. There's been a lot of hard work that's gone in the last few months."

He also revealed how Dinesh Karthik and Andy Flower have helped him to work on the technical elements of the game as he quipped, "With DK and Andy I've worked on certain aspects and it's coming off now. When you have someone on the other side with that much confidence and calmness, it makes your job easy.”

He also decoded his whole innings, stating, “Playing for my home state and city is very special. It always feels a little bit more special when you play for them and play in the Chinnaswamy as well. There's a lot of confidence in the side. Everyone is batting well and getting runs.”

The southpaw concluded by saying, “We haven't batted well in our home conditions, which is something we have to accept and take responsibility for. Hopefully we can really work on that.”