Mike Hesson watches Devdutt Padikkal destroy Haryana in the semi-final of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Karnataka have stormed into the final of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and will take on bitter rivals Tamil Nadu in the title-decider in a repeat of Vijay Hazare Trophy final. The man who has led Karnataka’s charge in the competition is 19-year old opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal. Having made his T20 debut for the team just earlier this month, the left-handed batsman has been an absolute revelation.

He has been one of the success stories of the ongoing tournament. The youngster is sitting pretty atop the charts with 548 runs from eleven innings, with one swashbuckling century and five fifties. He has scored his runs at an average of 68.50 while his strike-rate is nearly 180. Padikkal also has the record for most sixes in the tournament so far – 31. His 56 fours in the competition is also the most by any batsman.

Mike Hesson following Devdutt Padikkal ahead of IPL 2020

Royal Challengers Bangalore will be very excited to see the performances of Devdutt Padikkal. The Bangalore-based franchise had secured his services in the last auction but did not give him a chance to play in the last edition. However, the youngster is looking set to make his bow in the IPL in the upcoming season and Mike Hesson has pretty much made it clear.

The former New Zealand coach, who was appointed as the Director of Cricket Operations by the franchise in August, was in Surat to watch Devdutt bat against Haryana in the semifinal of the tournament. The opener did not disappoint as he blasted 87 to help Karnataka win the game by eight wickets in reach final.

Chasing a tough target of 195, Karnataka needed their top-order to deliver and Padikkal duly obliged. He shared a stand of 125 runs with India star KL Rahul in less than ten overs to set the platform for the chase. By the time he was dismissed, Karnataka had raced away to 182 for 2 in just 13.5 overs. His 87-run knock came off just 42 balls with the help of 11 fours and four sixes.

And as Padikkal impressed once again, Hesson took to Instagram to reveal that he was watching the batsman from the stands in Surat. Hesson posted a clip of the batsman’s batting and wrote:

“Playing very nicely again in Surat 👏👏👏 @devpadikkal19 .”