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The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a unique stage where youngsters get golden opportunities to showcase their talent and impress fans as well as experts of the game.
Over the years, several young guns have taken the cash-rich league by storm to make a name for themselves. A similar story has continued in the ongoing thirteenth season of IPL where Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opener Devdutt Padikkal has gathered all the attention.
Padikkal has dazzled everyone with his consistency and brilliance. This includes BCCI President and former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly as well. Recently, Ganguly has lavished praise on Padikkal for his outstanding performance in his maiden IPL season.
While speaking to India Today, Ganguly said that he is hopeful to see Padikkal taking his game at the top level, in order to become the next opener of the Indian Cricket Team.
Ganguly termed Padikkal as ‘very good talent’. The former India skipper reminisced when he first noticed the Bangalore-lad in a Ranji Trophy game against Bengal at Eden Gardens.
“He is a very good talent. Although T20 cricket is the first step…I saw him play an innings at Eden Gardens in the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Bengal vs Karnataka…Karnataka was a strong side and he stood tall,” said Ganguly.
“He’s got talent and time when he plays fast bowling. Let him go through a couple of seasons because the second season will be a lot harder. India want openers so hopefully, he will get his game right at the top level,” he added.
Padikkal enjoyed a tremendous debut season in IPL
Padikkal was one of the reasons behind RCB making it to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. The explosive opening batsman finished IPL 2020 as RCB’s top run-scorer, surpassing the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Padikkal managed to accumulate 473 runs in 15 matches with five half-centuries. He smashed 51 fours and eight sixes in the competition.
Before IPL 2020, Padikkal shined in the domestic circuit. With 580 runs from 12 games, he ended up as the highest run-getter in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019. Whereas, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Padikkal smashed 609 runs in 11 fixtures. It was his consistency with the willow that helped Karnataka to win both the limited-overs tournaments.
