IPL 2021: Devdutt Padikkal Batted Really Well, He Showed Lot Of Maturity To Bat Through - Kumar Sangakkara Lavishes Praise On Exceptional RCB Opener

Kumar Sangakkara, Rajasthan Royalas’ Director of Cricket, heaped high praises for the Royal Challengers Bangalore opener, Devdutt Padikkal. who notched up his maiden IPL ton on Thursday in Mumbai.

The RCB openers, Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli made a mockery of Rajasthan’s total of 177 by gunning it down in 16.3 overs with all 10 wickets in hand. The left-hander, who has scores of 11 and 25 in his last couple of innings, made full use of the batting paradise at the Wankhede.

He smashed 101 off 52 balls, a knock laced with 11 boundaries and 6 sixes such that he even outshone Virat Kohli, who played a second fiddle at the other end.

Kumar Sangakkara, sitting in the opposition dugout, couldn’t do much as the 20-year-old continued to take giant strides. The former Sri Lanka captain then applauded Padikkal’s knock – he was impressed by the youngster’s maturity to bat through the innings and see off the chase, and not throw away his wicket whether after reaching fifty and wasn’t nervous either in his nineties.

“It was an exceptional innings (from Devdutt Padikkal). He batted really well. Played the shots that he knew he could play. He anticipated some of the deliveries that were going to be bowled, with the field set.

“I thought he showed a lot of maturity to bat through. Of course, he was batting with Virat (Kohli). So there was a lot of conversation out there. Lot of talk about what to do and how to do it. It was very impressive,” Kumar Sangakkara said at the virtual press conference.

Shivam Dube showed a lot of intensity and awareness: Kumar Sangakkara

One of the positives for Rajasthan and Kumar Sangakkara out of their thumping loss on Thursday was the batting of Shivam Dube. The left-hander has been known for his big-hitting but hasn’t quite lived up to expectations in his 3-season IPL career yet.

But, against RCB, his former team, he showed maturity in holding the place when RR slipped to 43/4; despite the precarious situation, he remained confident and attacked senior leg-spinner, Yuzvendra Chahal, for a couple of big sixes, earning much-deserved praise from Kumar Sangakkara.

“I thought Shivam (Dube) batted really well. He showed a lot of intensity and awareness. One of the things that he matches up well against is spin, and that is his real strength. Today, he showed that he has the ability to try and dominate the slow bowlers.

“He batted smartly. He got out a bit ahead of time, but the lower order fought really well (after a top-order collapse). But we have got to learn and improve. Games can slip by quickly,” the 43-year-old Sri Lankan stated.

Rajasthan Royals remain in a familiar position at the points table: at the bottom after losing 3 of their 4 matches so far. For their last league match in Mumbai, they will take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.

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