Devdutt Padikkal: Took me 3-4 years to find what I am as a cricketer in IPL

Mumbai: Young batter Devdutt Padikkal acknowledged that the constant shifting through the teams "was challenging" and delayed his blooming as a cricketer in the Indian Premier League.

Devdutt began his IPL career at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2020 and shifted to Rajasthan Royals after two seasons. After being in the ranks of RR for two years (2022-2023), the left-hander moved to Lucknow Super Giants in 2024, before returning to his home franchise RCB this season.

He is yet to fire big this season, but Devdutt showed signs of being in his dominant self with a 22-ball 37 against Mumbai Indians here on Monday. “It's definitely challenging when you are not settled on any side. As a 21-year-old, I was in RCB and when I made that move to another franchise, it was a little uncomfortable, obviously,” he told the media in the post-match press meet.

“I wasn't very confident about myself and it took me three-four years to really find what I am as a cricketer in the IPL. It's not that easy. You try your hardest, but at times it just doesn't work," he added.

Devdutt said he had made a dedicated pre-season effort to iron out certain flaws in his batting.

“Coming into this season, obviously, I had to work really hard. I knew there were things that I needed to improve on. There were lots of aspects of the game that I wasn't up to the mark I felt in the last year. I had a good couple of months before the IPL started and I feel all that hard work is coming into effect now,” he said.

Devdutt, who added 91 runs for the second wicket with Virat Kohli to help RCB set a huge target of 222 against MI, said batting with the star batter was always a “pleasure”.

“Obviously, batting with Virat is a pleasure. He's done this over and over again for so many years so that's the level of consistency that you aim for as a young cricketer playing the IPL,” he said.

“He makes it look easy, but it isn't that easy to be honest, to come in every single year and get above 400, 500 runs. As youngsters in the team, we are looking to learn that from him,” he said.

Devdutt said Rohit Sharma’s struggles against left-arm pace was the reason behind bringing on Yash Dayal early into the attack.

"That is actually true, I don't attend the bowlers' meeting. But I am aware that a lot of left-hand pacers have bowled to Rohit in the past and had success against him. So, I'm sure that was the thinking behind that move,” he said.

Devdutt did not reveal much about RCB’s elation after they defeated Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium after six attempts but took a more pragmatic view of the victory.

“To be honest, every game is important for us. It doesn't matter who we are playing and where we are playing. That was the same way when we were playing CSK (in Chennai). It was the same when we played KKR (in Kolkata) and it's the same now that we have played MI (in Mumbai),” he said.

“It's important that we take every game at a time and try to win each and every game because you never know where the momentum takes you in this tournament. I really feel that we went out there, wanted to win, and we got that,” he added.

Devdutt said it was “boring” to be left out during the team’s fielding innings and hoped to get more time in the field. He was swapped with Impact Sub Suyansh Sharma during RCB's target defence.

“Honestly, it's not ideal. I've always enjoyed fielding and that's something I've always wanted to do in every single game,” he said.

“I feel I can make that difference when I'm on the field. But the team is set up in such a way that I have to be the one that sits out and we have some great fielders on the ground even then.” “It is a rule that they feel helps the game. Hopefully, I can eventually start fielding again because it's pretty boring sitting out and watching,” he added.