It's incredible to bat alongside him – Devdutt Padikkal on his partnership with Virat Kohli

Devdutt Padikkal played a fine knock of 39 from just 27 balls as RCB beat KKR in Raipur to complete their home run of IPL 2026. Padikkal shared a crucial 88-run stand with Kohli, propelling RCB into a significant position before they launched their final push for the game.

Talking at the post-match presentation, Padikkal opened up on RCB’s eighth win of the season while heaping praise on Virat Kohli for another match-winning knock. He also shed light on how brilliant it feels to partner with VK, concluding with a quick word about how RCB wants to finish the league.

Opening up on the win, Padikkal said, “Yeah, definitely. It was an important game for us. We wanted to make sure that we keep putting pressure on the rest of the sides and I'm glad that we did that today.”

Shedding light on his own good form, DDP added, “Yeah, it's been going good. I think it's important that I keep this momentum going and keep contributing to the side. And as long as I'm doing that, I'm happy.”

Explaining Kohli’s brilliance, Padikkal stated, “Yeah, like I have said many times, it's incredible to bat alongside him. He does this so often. If you wake him up any time of the day, he's going to come and do that in a run chase. So it was really great to see some exquisite shots and obviously, just watching and learning.”

Spilling the beans on whether Virat Kohli does get nervous, DDP said, “I don't think so because like at this point, I don't think he needs to be nervous. He's done this so many times. He's scored so many runs. You saw he got his 14,000th run today. So I don't think that requires any nervousness.”

He concluded by stating, “Yeah, of course. We want to finish in that top two spots and we are looking to do that and hopefully we continue to win games and that momentum will carry us through to the playoffs.”