IPL 2022 Auction: Devdutt Padikkal reveals what happened in his first interaction with Virat Kohli: Many were surprised when Royal Challengers Bangalore revealed their retention list since they chose to let go of Devdutt Padikkal. The 21-year-old, who was bought for merely INR 20 lakhs, played 29 matches for Virat Kohli’s side and ended up scoring 884 runs at an average of 31.57 and a strike rate of 125.03.
IPL 2022 Auction: Devdutt Padikkal reveals what happened in his first interaction with Virat Kohli
Though Padikkal is not a part of RCB anymore and will be up for grabs in the upcoming auction, which will be held on 12th and 13th February, he recently appeared in the RCB podcast and opened up on his first interaction with Kohli, the then skipper of the team.
On the RCB Podcast powered by @KotakBankLtd, Devdutt Padikkal talks about his first ever interaction with Virat Kohli and how it eventually felt to bat with him.#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #RCBPodcast pic.twitter.com/FP1QjlmiXr
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 7, 2022
“The first time I met him was in the ground, during a practice session. I was starstruck and was unsure how to go up to him and start talking. I didn’t want to get into small talk because I’m not good at it, so the first thing I asked him is about cricket. I asked what he does when he goes through a bad phase,” Padikkal said.
The Karnataka lad has spent a lot of time with the former Indian skipper on the crease, which certainly has had an influence on his playing style. On being asked about the experience of batting with Kohli, the youngster said
“Virat Kohli is such an incredible batsman. He has lots of experience and knowledge about the game, won the World Cup, and has done everything in cricket so someone like him in the non-striker end is just priceless. There is not much attention on me when he is batting with me. That takes away a lot of pressure from my shoulder. As a youngster, coming into the team and playing with him, you couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
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