Published: Nov 15, 2020, 02:39 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 15, 2020, 02:39 PM (IST)
Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Devdutt Padikkal revealed the special text message he received from former South Africa skipper and his teammate AB de Villiers after the game against Mumbai Indians. Padikkal played a spectacular knock off 74 runs in 45-balls as RCB beat MI in the Super Over in that match.
Padikkal was one of the strongest pillars of RCB memorable-run in IPL as they got qualified for playoffs after 2016. The southpaw slammed 473 runs in 15 games and finished as the top-scorer for RCB in IPL 2020 and outperformed the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the list.
Padikkal recently talked about the De Villiers and said watching him bat is a treat for eyes.
“He’s a special player. Just watching him bat is a treat for your eyes. Throughout the season, he kept telling me to stay in the zone and continue to do what I was doing,” Padikkal told ESPNCricinfo.
The southpaw walked down the memory lane and remembered the special text from the premium RCB batsman after his stellar show against Mumbai Indians.
“I remember when we were travelling back from the Mumbai [Indians] game in which I got the 70 [74], he sent me a text message saying, ‘Continue to do that and you’re playing really well, just stay in the zone and enjoy yourself’. That was really special because, coming from him, it was a great honour. I really enjoyed batting with him whenever I could because he makes your job so easy. He just takes on the bowlers from ball one and I enjoyed watching him,” he added.
Padikkal was also awarded the Emerging Player of the Season for his consistent performances at the top. The 20-year-old talked about the mental side of the game and how to handle the pressure.
“It was more [about] the mental side of the game because after a certain point the physical aspect is in a set place. Then it’s more about how you handle the pressure and the situation.
“So that’s what I was working on and whenever I got a chance, even in domestic tournaments, I wanted to make sure that I took responsibility and tried to take the team home even though there were some international cricketers in our Karnataka side,” said Padikkal.
