IPL 2021: Kumar Sangakkara lauds Devdutt Padikkal for his maiden IPL ton

IPL 2021: Kumar Sangakkara lauds Devdutt Padikkal for his maiden IPL ton

Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli

Kumar Sangakkara, the Director of Cricket for Rajasthan Royals, lauded Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Devdutt Padikkal for his stunning unbeaten ton on Thursday.

RCB demolished RR by ten wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, with Devdutt Padikkal smashing an unbeaten 101 off just 52 balls.

Devdutt Padikkal tested positive for COVID-19 before the beginning of the IPL 2021. He was able to rejoin the team after testing negative. However, the youngster was unable to play in RCB’s first match against Mumbai Indians but then he made a marvelous comeback against Rajasthan Royals. 

Kumar Sangakkara all praise for Devdutt Padikkal

Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal

Sangakkara praised Padikkal’s innings, saying that the left-handed RCB batsman played the shots he thought he could. “It was an exceptional innings (from Devdutt Padikkal). He batted really well. Played the shots that he knew he could play. He anticipated some of the deliveries that were going to be bowled, with the field set,” said Sangakkara at a press conference.

With the field that had been set, Sangakkara added that Padikkal was able to foresee some of the deliveries from the Rajasthan Royals bowlers. The unbeaten 181-run partnership between Devdutt Padikkal and skipper Virat Kohli is the highest opening partnership for the Bangalore franchise. 

“It was an exceptional inning from Devdutt Padikkal. He batted really well. Played the shots that he knew he could play. He anticipated some of the deliveries that were going to be bowled, with the fieldset. I thought he showed a lot of maturities to bat through. Of course, he was batting with Virat Kohli. So there was a lot of conversation out there. A lot of talk about what to do and how to do it. It was very impressive,” added Sangakkara.

Along with Devdutt Padikkal who scored his first IPL century, RCB captain Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 72 off 47 balls headed straight to becoming the first player in IPL history to score 6000 runs. It was RCB’s fourth win in a row and they are now at the top of the table.

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