3 min readUpdated: Apr 7, 2026 04:27 PM IST
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL title defence is only two games old, but batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik already believes that Devdutt Padikkal is already making a case to play for India in all formats of the game.
In the two IPL 2026 games that RCB have played — and won — Padikkal has scored 50 off 29 against Chennai Super Kings and 61 off 26 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. This is his second stint with the franchise after he played early in his career for the franchise.
“Devdutt Padikkal coming into 2025 was a very different Devdutt Padikkal to the one that left RCB earlier. He has learned to handle everything that comes with playing in the IPL, and the way he has adapted his game has been very impressive. If he continues in this rich vein of form, I don’t think Team India can ignore him across formats. He is batting at a level which is a touch above a lot of other players,” Karthik was quoted as saying by RCB media.
Padikkal himself spoke about his evolution into a dasher for the T20 format.
“In 2020-2021, I was a lot more scared as a young kid coming in. I feel over the years I’ve learned to handle everything that goes around in the IPL. At this point, I’ve reached a stage of maturity where I understand what I need to do to be at my best. And I feel a lot calmer and more composed and I’m really happy at where I am and I’m really enjoying my cricket,” Padikkal said.
Last season on his return to RCB colours, he scored 247 runs with a strike rate of 150 in 10 matches.
“When things didn’t go well, I didn’t have answers. But that phase gave me that motivation and that fire to get better. Sometimes you need those failures along your journey to remind you how much harder you need to work,” Padikkal said.
“When I got the opportunity with RCB again (in 2025), I decided there were a lot of things I needed to change, I needed to really commit to working on those things regardless of what the outcome may be. It’s not easy when you’ve grown up playing a certain way, I could have easily accepted that I’ll stick to Test cricket, but it was important for me to come out of that comfort zone and try to adapt.”
