Devdutt Padikkal said he was relieved to see Tim David take charge of the innings, as the power-hitter smashed an unbeaten 70 off 25 balls to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a massive 250/3 against Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in their second Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash.
Padikkal, who scored a fluent half-century off 29 balls, admitted the team needed to accelerate at the right time.
“I think at the strategic timeout as well, we had to, we knew that we had to keep going and it was an important phase from there on and I’m probably glad that I got out because the way Tim went from there, it was incredible,” he said during the mid-innings break.
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He also explained that batting wasn’t easy early on, with the pitch offering some resistance.
“I think it was a bit tacky early on, especially with the new ball wasn’t coming on that well and we have to make sure that we don’t lose too many wickets. We understand that in the Chinnaswamy, if we have wickets in hand in the last five, six overs, we can really maximise, and that’s what we did,” said Padikkal.
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Padikkal added that setting a target at the venue is never straightforward. “Not really, to be honest. It’s very hard to set a target here in Chinnaswamy. It’s important that the moment you have that momentum behind you, you have to just keep going.”
Reflecting on his own batting, he stressed the importance of belief. “Definitely, it’s the belief, I feel. It’s important that I believed in myself that I can really go out there and play at a very high tempo. Over the years, I’ve not been able to do that and coming into the last year as well. I wanted to make sure that I really believe in myself and make sure that I go out there and enjoy myself,” he said.
Despite RCB posting the highest total of IPL 2026 so far, Padikkal remained cautious. “I think it’s a really good score. But again, anything can happen in cricket. We have to do our things right and hopefully we’ll get the win,” he concluded.