Devdutt Padikkal version 2.0 could be RCB’s missing jigsaw piece in IPL 2025

Devdutt Padikkal began his IPL 2025 journey with a very unwanted record: he was the first player to go unsold at the auction held last year in Saudi Arabia. He was eventually picked up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for his base price of ₹2 crore at the end. At the time, no one would have expected him to be more than a back-up option. After all, in 64 matches in his IPL career till 2024, Devdutt Padikkal had a strike rate of 123. In a stacked RCB batting line-up, would anyone be buying IPL tickets to see Devdutt Padikkal bat?

Two games into IPL 2025, Devdutt Padikkal has started to turn that opinion on its head. He didn’t make a headline-grabbing contribution, but his 27 off 14 played a key role as RCB beat Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk for the first time since IPL 2008. It was a massive win, by 50 runs, and it was built on team contributions. But Devdutt Padikkal’s innings might have been the most important, because it gave RCB the missing jigsaw piece they wanted.

Devdutt Padikkal’s importance for RCB

RCB had one gap in an otherwise solid looking team. They needed an aggressive left-hander at No.3. That is why they went so hard for Venkatesh Iyer, before KKR snapped him up for ₹23.75 crore. It wasn’t ideal for captain Rajat Patidar to bat at 3, because the right hander is a spin-destroyer supreme.

So he should ideally be batting in the middle overs to take down spin. They could perhaps push Krunal Pandya up, but the all-rounder’s batting range isn’t what it was at his peak. The one man with the attributes to bat there and not affect team balance was Devdutt Padikkal. But it would have to be a Devdutt Padikkal radically different from the versions we had seen in previous IPLs. Devdutt Padikkal had the class and pedigree, but could he bring explosiveness too?

It turned out, he absolutely could. He went away and worked on his game, and his intent, and the result is that RCB now have a batting line-up that runs deep, has left-right variety and the complementary skills of hitting spin or hitting pace that make it difficult for bowling captains to have successful plans against them.

It started against KKR

Devdutt Padikkal’s score against KKR was just 10 off 10 balls, but it was a case of the scorecard not telling the full story. Devdutt Padikkal came in to bat against Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, with the ball turning a fair bit. But his shot-making was one of intent.

He was beaten a few times, but when he played shots he was not looking for the ‘safe’ ones where you can just push the ball for singles. He clipped Sunil Narine for four and was out trying to hit the same bowler for six. When he was walking off, he got a little fist-bump from Virat Kohli. He hadn’t got a big score, but Virat Kohli understood that Devdutt Padikkal had shown the right approach.

RCB’s batting coach Dinesh Karthik also drew particular attention to Devdutt Padikkal’s innings after RCB’s win against KKR. “Sometimes small things go unnoticed,” Dinesh Karthik told the team in the dressing room post-match.

“In the lead-up to this tournament there has been a lot of work one boy has put in, Devdutt Padikkal. Purely the way he wants to play and make a difference for this team… a lot of people practice stuff, but to take it into a game and have the courage to go out there, back yourself to do it… It might not be a big partnership, but what you showed today is a sign of some big things to come.”

The CSK blitz

Dinesh Karthik’s words and Kohli’s fist-bump of appreciation were prescient. Devdutt Padikkal came out against CSK like a man on a mission. His fourth ball was flicked for six, and there would be one more six, hit despite a long-on in place.

The Devdutt Padikkal of old would not have tried to clear that fielder. But Padikkal 2.0 not only did it, he didn’t let up in his attacking intent even when he was going great guns. Devdutt Padikkal has not just filled a hole for RCB, he’s added some punch of his own.