The 16th match of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) turned out to be a memorable one for Devdutt Padikkal. The left-handed batsman notched his maiden century in the T20 league and helped his team to a 10-wicket victory at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The southpaw got to his ton off a mere 51 balls.
The Challengers won the game with as many as 21 balls to spare. In the meantime, Padikkal and RR’s Jos Buttler were involved in a ‘Spirit of Cricket’ moment amidst some competitive cricket. In a video doing the rounds on the social media platforms, Buttler was seen, tying the shoelaces of Padikkal. The official Instagram handle of the IPL uploaded the clip.
Here’s the video:
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I could only wait my turn: Devdutt Padikkal
To start with Padikkal was down with COVID-19 due to which he missed RCB’s opening match against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. However, the youngster has managed to find his rhythm. On Thursday, he stitched together an unbeaten 181-run stand with skipper Virat Kohli to take RCB over the finishing line.
“It’s been special. I could only wait my turn. When I was down with COVID, all I was thinking of was to come here and play the first match here. I couldn’t do that but was keen to contribute to the team’s win. The wicket was coming on really well and we got a good start. When you get into a partnership like that, it helps as runs come from both ends,“ Padikkal said.
Even as RCB were nearing the target, Padikkal wasn’t concerned about his century. He iterated the importance of winning his team matches rather than focussing on personal milestones.
“(Whether he was worried about the 100) Not really, that’s what I was telling Virat to go for it. For me it’s not about getting to a hundred, I wouldn’t mind missing out on hundreds as long as I contribute to the team’s wins.
“Throughout the innings, there were times when he was going better and then I was going better. Rotation of strike is important. We just clicked well,“ he added.
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