10 Facts about Devdutt Padikkal - All you need to know

Devdutt Padikkal made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday (September 21).

The Indian left-handed batsman, who plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket, impressed one and all on his IPL debut as he smashed SRH bowlers to all corners of the ground. A lot of cricket experts have already named him as the next big thing.

His name came into the limelight when he scored 580 runs in the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. He was the leading run-getter in the competition with an average of 64 and carried a strike-rate of 175, including one hundred and five half-centuries.

Here are some interesting facts to know about youngster Devdutt Padikkal:

1. Born in Kerala

Devdutt Padikkal was born in a small town named Edappal in Kerala. He moved to Bengaluru at the age of 11 and it was there where he started playing cricket and started training at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket.

2. Idolises Rahul Dravid and loves watching Gautam Gambhir bat

His idol and role model from a young age has been former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid and incidentally both happen to be from the same state Karnataka and have studied at the same school (St Joseph’s Boys school). He also likes watching Gautam Gambhir bat. 

3. Selected by Bellary Tuskers in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL)

Padikkal was first selected in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) in 2017 and played for Belary Tuskers. He smashed 72 against the Bengaluru Blasters that year, opening the batting and won the Emerging Player award during that season. 

4. Won the ‘Best Batsman’ award in 2018

Devdutt Padikkal was awarded with the ‘Best Batsman’ award in 2018 by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for his outstanding performances at the U19 Cooch Behar Trophy 2018-19 where he scored 829 runs and was the fourth-highest run-getter.

5. Scored 1,838 runs across all formats for Karnataka in  2019-20 cricket season

In what was his first full-fledged domestic season, Devdutt Padikkal was Karnataka’s top run-getter (1838 runs) across all formats. The southpaw contributed 42.7% and 36.13% to Karnataka’s total tally of runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy respectively.

6. Most number of sixes in the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

He hit the most number of sixes (33) in the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and scored the maximum number of runs (580) which was instrumental in Karnataka winning their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

7. Selected in the India A squad for the 2019-20 Deodhar Trophy.

Late last year, he was, for the first time, selected in the India A squad for the Deodhar trophy held in Ranchi on the back of some good domestic performances for Karnataka.

8. A Football fan

Paddikal is quite a football fan with his favourite team being Manchester United and regularly follows the English Premier League (EPL). Apart from playing cricket, he also loves playing football on the field and off the field as well through video games.

9. Half-century on debut in all three formats

He also holds the unique record of scoring fifties on first-class, List A, T20 as well as IPL debut with his scores being 77, 58, 53*and 56 respectively.

10. Handy right-arm off-break bowler

Apart from his flamboyance left-handed batting, Paddikal is also a handy right-arm off-break bowler, who’s capable enough of breaking batting partnerships at crucial junctures.

~Written by Kevin D’Costa