‘Made a big difference in my growth’: Devdutt Padikkal on batting with Virat Kohli at RCB

Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Devdutt Padikkal expressed how much he has been able to learn from batting with Virat Kohli in the IPL.

Padikkal made his debut in the league in 2020 with RCB and was their designated opener alongside the talismanic Kohli. He was prolific with the bat, scoring 473 runs in 15 games, and won the Emerging Player award at the end of the season. Padikkal spoke of his experiences in his rookie year and the learnings he was able to pick up from the batting great.

“When I made my IPL debut with RCB in the 2020 season, I felt ready. I had a solid run of scores in domestic cricket behind me. So, I knew that when my chance came, I would be fully switched on and give 100 per cent,” Padikkal was quoted as saying in a recent interaction on JioStar.

And batting with Virat Kohli, one of the greatest in the game, was a huge help. At that age, watching him build an innings gave me so much clarity and understanding of how to construct a knock. That made a big difference in my growth,” the left-handed batter from Karnataka said further.

Local boy Padikkal has been one of the most talked-about players of the 2026 IPL. The southpaw from Karnataka has looked rejuvenated, playing a vital role at number 3 for the defending champions. He has scored 412 runs in 12 innings at a blistering strike rate of 173.10. He returned to his home team in the 2025 auction and has been the mainstay at number three for them.

Padikkal is also coming off a dominant season in the domestic circuit. He was the second-highest run scorer in the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 725 runs at a whopping 90.62 average. He carried this form into the later leg of the Ranji Trophy, scoring 543 runs at an average of 60.33 in Karnataka’s run to the final. This included a mammoth 232 in the semifinal against Uttarakhand, batting at number 3.

Padikkal has been named in the squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, set to commence on June 6 after the conclusion of the IPL.