Explore Business Standard
Devdutt Padikkal
Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori labelled his side's bowling display against Royal Challengers Bengaluru as "poor", conceding they allowed Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli far too many scoring opportunities in the IPL opener here. After raising 201 for 9 in the season-opener on Saturday, the Hyderabad side could not tackle the marauding Padikkal and Kohli, watching RCB romp home in just 15.4 overs. "You have to get a good start (with the ball), which we did against (Phil) Salt, but then I just think we weren't at our best with the ball. We weren't as disciplined as we needed to be, and we gave a lot of scoring opportunities to Virat and Padikkal, who played exceptionally well," Vettori said in the post-match press conference. "We should have been able to maintain a little bit more (discipline) after getting that important wicket of Salt. So, it was a very good batting performance by RCB and one of our poorer bowling performances," he added. Vettori said SRH had observ
Devdutt Padikkal regally whipped pacer Jaydev Unadkat's full ball on his pads over backward square leg for a six. It was not an unusual sight for a batter for whom flick forms one of the bread and butter shots. But it was unprecedented because Devdutt has seldom hit a six off the first ball. The left-hander tends to settle down before unleashing himself on the bowlers. However, the left-hander shed his linear nature against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener here on Saturday, and it was just the beginning. In the next 10 balls he faced, Devdutt produced two more sixes and three fours, racing to 34 in 11 balls, strike-rate hovering over 300. In fact, his 26-ball 61 was representative of the transformation happening to his batting since 2024 or early 2025. In this period, Devdutt has made 543 runs at an average of 60.33 in the Ranji Trophy, 725 runs at 90.62 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and 309 runs at a strike rate of 167.02 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Karnataka coach Y
Indian opener Devdutt Padikkal on Thursday confirmed he will be out of action for three to four weeks owing to a fracture he sustained in his thumb. Padikkal, who played two T20Is for India in 2021, suffered the injury during the Deodhar Trophy earlier this month. The injury has kept Padikkal away from the ongoing Maharaja KSCA T20 trophy here, for which he was picked by Gulbarga Mystics. "I had a left-thumb fracture during the Deodhar Trophy. So, I had to undergo a minor surgery to get that fixed. I will be out of the game for probably another three to four weeks. Hopefully, I can be back on the field soon," Padikkal told Fancode. The left-handed batter has undergone surgery on his thumb, about which he wrote on social media. "Just a quick update. Sustained a fracture on my left thumb and had to undergo a surgery. The road to recovery begins now, and I can't wait to get back out on the field soon," he said.