Follow UsDevdutt Padikkal finally seems to have found his mojo after getting back at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He has already hit 230 runs this season and is gelling well with the squad as well.
But was Padikkal even in the plans of RCB at the time of the IPL 2025 mega auction? RCB went shopping for a left-hander and eventually ended up with their former best as part of an accelerated auction, picking him up at his base price of INR 2 Cr.
Malolan Rangarajan, Spin Bowling Coach of the RCB, explained the process that led to picking Padikkal for the auction.
“When Devdutt was with RCB, he had two stellar years. He scored close to 500 runs. We were very clear about wanting a left-hander. And Devdutt sat conveniently for us on day two. I'm not going to beat around the bush and say that we went for him right away,” Malolan accepted while speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of RCB's clash against Delhi Capitals.
But it was Padikkal’s familiarity with the RCB set-up that got the ball in his favour.
“The benefit of having worked with him before, myself and a lot of players, even Virat, who has batted a lot with him. So, having the comfort of knowing that Devdutt is available to be picked up later helped number one. That's as far as the auction is concerned,” Malolan informed.
After having signed him up, RCB made his role clear to him, with the help of Dinesh Karthik, the batting coach, and Andy Flower, the head coach.
“But as soon as we knew Devdutt was there within our set-up, the most important thing was the clarity that was given to him with regard to his role. Plus, the work, which is the most important bit after that, the work that he's put in.
“He was very hungry, and he's been very receptive to a lot of technical and tactical ideas both Dinesh Karthik and Andy Flower have thrown at him,” he said.