‘Would love to have his leg-side play’ - RR head coach Kumar Sangakkara lauds ‘accomplished’ Devdutt Padikkal

Director of cricket and head coach of Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kumar Sangakkara has lavished praises on left-handed-batter Devdutt Padikkal ahead of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The franchise bagged the elegant batter at a cost of INR 7.75 crore in the IPL mega auction last month. The price did not come as a surprise for cricket fans and experts due to Padikkal’s impressive show for his former franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the top of the order in previous editions.

Speaking of Padikkal’s attributes, Sangakkara called the 21-year-old an accomplished batter and revealed how much he admires Padikkal’s classy shots. One of the finest left-handed batters to have ever graced the game, Sangakkara also stated that he would love to have the Indian batter’s leg-side play. The young southpaw will groom under the Sri Lankan batting legend thi sseason and many eyes will be on him.

“I watched Devdutt for the last two seasons, he is so accomplished. He is a guy as he goes through an innings, increases his scoring rate and minimizes the risk. I would love to have Devdutt Paddikal’s leg-side play. His flicks and his ability against pace are wonderful,” said Sangakkara at Clubhouse session on the Red Bull Cricket room.

Devdutt Padikkal has scored 884 runs in 29 IPL games

Talking about Padikkal numbers in IPL, the left-handed batter has played a total of 29 games in which he has managed to score 884 runs at a decent average of 31.57  and an impressive strike-rate of 125.04. The left-handed-batter had played some crucial knocks for his former franchise RCB while opening the batting alongside Indian stalwart Virat Kohli.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals had a good mega auction, with side purchasing the likes of Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Rassie van der Dussen and Daryl Mitchell in the batting order. For the bowling department, the former IPL champions have bagged the services of Ravichandran Ashwin an Yuzvendra Chahal.

The Royals will kick-off their IPL campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 29 (Tuesday). The match will be played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.