Devdutt Padikkal walked out to bat at No. 3 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first match of IPL 2026 on Saturday (March 28) against Sunrisers Hyderabad and scored 61 runs from just 26 balls in the 202-run chase at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He batted with a strike rate of 234.62 and slammed 7 fours and 4 sixes during his stay at the crease. Padikkal’s super show with the bat kicked SRH out of the game completely, and RCB went on to secure a memorable win by 6 wickets by chasing down the target with 26 balls to spare. After playing a big role in RCB’s win over the Ishan Kishan-led side at Chinnaswamy, Padikkal gave a special mention to former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik and explained how he has played a big role in his evolution as a T20 batter.
According to Padikkal, the credit for evolution and improvement of his game goes to Karthik and RCB’s head coach Andy Flower. He added that they worked hard on him, and it was not easy because there was a lot to change, and the changes were not just technical but also mental.
“The credit for the evolution and improvement of my game goes to our (RCB) head coach Andy Flower and our batting coach Dinesh Karthik Bhai,” Padikkal said on JioStar after RCB’s win in the IPL 2026 opener on Saturday.
“They (Karthik and Flower) really worked hard on me. It wasn’t easy because there was a lot I needed to change. It wasn’t just technical. It was a lot mentally as well. I needed to really believe that I can play this aggressive brand of cricket. Over the last five or six years, T20 cricket has evolved a lot. When I first came into the IPL in 2020, the cricket we played was very different from what is being played now. So, it was important that I believe in myself that I can do it. I feel Andy and DK helped me get there,” he added.
Karthik, who represented India in all three formats of the game for close to two decades, is part of RCB’s support staff for IPL 2026 as a batting coach. He joined the franchise ahead of IPL 2025 after calling time on his playing career in 2024.
Padikkal played a big role in RCB’s win in the IPL 2026 opener, and he explained how he and Virat Kohli chased down the target of 202 runs without much fuss.
