You played a massive role – Virat Kohli on Devdutt Padikkal's contributions in RCB’s IPL 2025 campaign

Devdutt Padikkal’s season has come to a rude halt after the left-hander picked up a hamstring injury which has ruled him out of the remainder of IPL 2025. Padikkal enjoyed an excellent run at No.3 where he blended aggression and calm in perfect proportions. In the left-hander's absence, seasoned batter Mayank Agarwal, who has formerly been a part of the franchise, was roped in.

Talking on the RCB Bold Diaries, Virat Kohli shared a heart-to-heart about Padikkal and also underlined the quality season that he had.

Virat said, “Dev, firstly we are all…I won’t say that as gutted as you because we can’t feel what we are feeling and we were not awake till 4:00 in the morning because of the injury. But I know how it feels, how you must be feeling, heading into the play-offs part and then you know whatever has to happen after.”

Shedding light on his contributions, Virat added, “You played a massive role in us being here. Firstly, very well done on how you played in the tournament, what you did for the team till this point. I want to congratulate you the way you have turned things around for yourself because I know for a fact that we were in Australia and when the auction thing was happening and you were not sure what’s going to happen and I had a chat with you. I said that you are going to bat at number three.”

He further continued, “This is really your time to play the way you do and really reinvent yourself in RCB where you had a great time early on. So, I have had a lot of fun working with you very closely. I’ve enjoyed our partnerships and conversations and I want to say that for sure, with my experience, what I’ve seen, this will propel you to reinvent your whole game all over again in all formats of the game. So, from me and the rest of the team, we wish you a speedy recovery. All the very best moving ahead and really hats off to the way you batted and the way you turned things around for us this season.”