"Told Simon Katich That Devdutt Padikkal Has Got Some Serious Talent", Virat Kohli

The Royal Challengers Bangalore's skipper Virat Kohli has heaped praise on the 20-year old Devdutt Padikkal who has been one of the stand-out players of the Indian Premier League 2020 so far. Padikkal, who has been consistent with his performance so far, is the leading scorer for RCB after the first 4 matches with 174 runs.

Against Rajasthan Royals, Padikkal played a classy knock of 63 off 45 balls in a chase of 155, which helped RCB to register an easy win of 8 wickets. Though Virat himself was the top scorer of the inning with an unbeaten 72 off 53 balls, it was Padikkal's knock that caught his attention and he couldn't stop himself to praise the young talented batsman.



"I saw him play and told Simon (Katich) that this guy has got some serious talent because he's got reach, a great eye, a great balance. It's very difficult for the bowlers to continue bowling the same lines and lengths against a leftie. The way he bats... very clean shots. You don't feel like he is taking risks", Virat said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

The leading run-getter of the IPL history, Virat said that Padikkal is a smart guy who understands the game really well and hoped that he will continue to bat longer which going to beneficial for the team.

"I just kept talking to him about building an inning. If he can bat longer for the team, it's gonna benefit us. Today he carried from 40 to 65 odd which helped the team eventually. He's a smart guy, he understands the game well and he responds to the feedback very well. The more he keeps learning, the better it is for RCB", Virat added.



Playing as an opener, Padikkal so far has scored 56, 1, 54, and 63 and played a key role for RCB that is currently is in at number 2 on the points table with 6 points.

While it has been an almost unprecedented start to IPL 2020 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli himself has back in form after the failure in the first 3 games with the bat. A smiling Kohli later said that he had told Jos Buttler, the Royals wicketkeeper, during his innings that he both loved and hated the game, because of the contrasting fortunes it made you experience as a player.

"It's a funny game you know. It's an amazing game. I was telling Jos when I was batting in there, I love this game and I hate it too", Virat said at the post-match presentation to Ian Bishop when asked about his form. "It's something that you need to understand as a player. When you play so much of cricket, you do feel like at times you're not in control of what you want to do".

"But more than that, you feel disappointed when the team's not doing well. But when the team's doing well, you feel like 'Okay I've got some more space to figure out how I want to go about applying my kind of batting for the benefit of the team".

Stay tuned...