Prior to 2026, Devdutt Padikkal’s best strike-rate in the IPL was 150.60 (2025). That number was a significant upgrade from his previous best of 130.50 from 2023.

But in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s twin victories this season, Padikkal has struck at a whopping 201.81 and made two half-centuries.

After fine campaigns in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy (543 runs at avg 60.33) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (725 runs at 90.62), the 25-year-old’s effort will only burnish his growing reputation as an elite all-format batter.

“It’s a lot of hard work and self-belief that has helped me get here,” Padikkal said about unlocking his T20 potential. “It wasn’t easy initially. I had to change from the foundation onwards, considering the type of cricket I wanted to play growing up. But RCB has been great in guiding me.”

The standout features have been Padikkal’s acceleration and shot-making range. Against CSK on Sunday, on a lax pitch, he was 16 off 15 balls at one stage. He ended up with 50 from 29, setting the stage for Tim David’s murderous, unbeaten 25-ball 70.

There was a dextrous clip over short-fine off Jamie Overton, a beautiful dance down the track to launch Noor Ahmad over long-on, and an expert reading of a slower delivery from Shivam Dube to send it over wide long-off.

“Even last season, we had a couple of games [at Chinnaswamy] where we struggled early on,” Padikkal said. “We had a conversation that we needed to preserve wickets because when the ball gets older, it’s easier to bat.

“We were not three or four down by the 10-over mark [vs. CSK], and once we managed that, we could just go at every ball.”