“Great one to look forward to in the future” - When Virat Kohli heaped praise on Devdutt Padikkal after IPL 2021 century
Virat Kohli once lavished praise on Devdutt Padikkal's talent and called him a future star. Kohli's comments came after he and Padikkal stitched together an unbeaten 181-run stand to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) win by 10 wickets against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium.
The Royals batted first and posted a strong total of 177, courtesy of 40s from Shivam Dube and Rahul Tewatia. Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets for RCB. Thereafter, the duo of Kohli-Padikkal garnered 59 runs, in the powerplay, with the left-hander leading the charge.
Kohli picked up pace in the middle overs and increased the team's tempo along with Padikkal, as the duo looked flawless against the hapless Royals bowling unit. Padikkal (101* off 52) and Kohli (72* off 47) remained unbeaten as RCB sealed the chase under 17 overs.
Interestingly, it was Padikkal's maiden IPL century, which earned him praise from the cricket fraternity and fans. At the post-match presentation, Kohli said:
"He [Padikkal] is a great talent, a great one to look forward to in the future. I had the best seat in the house." [H/t Times of India]
Devdutt Padikkal offered mediocre returns in last few IPL seasons
Devdutt Padikkal rose to fame with his impressive tally in IPL 2020 (473 runs) and IPL 2021 (411 runs) with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The performance also led to him making his T20I debut in July 2021.
However, his career took a downturn when he switched to playing for Rajasthan Royals from the 2022 season. He scored 376 runs and 261 runs, in two seasons, which didn't help the Royals' cause.
As a result, he was traded to Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the 2024 season. The southpaw could garner only 38 runs in seven innings at an average of 5.42 and is seemingly off everyone's radar.
The recent Maharaja T20 Trophy saw Devdutt Padikkal score 253 runs in 10 innings for the Gulbarga Mystics.