Devdutt Padikkal of Royal United in Bengaluru (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)
New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Devdutt Padikkal is no longer just an elegant ball-timer; He is developing into a full-fledged T20 force. Rebounding from his 61-wicket haul against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Padikkal, in an exclusive interview with TOI, opened up about resetting the mentality behind his aggressive turn, the technical tune-up with RCB’s think tank, and the clarity of his role in a power-packed lineup.
As the IPL 2026 season heats up, his ambitions for an India jersey remain firm. This season is a battle of fearless prodigies, heavyweights and legends, and Padikkal is determined to belong among them.Excerpts…S. That score of 61 off 26 against Sunrisers Hyderabad… Did it feel like a continuation of your Vijay Hazare Trophy form, or was there a conscious shift in approach for the team IPL?It’s completely different when you get into an IPL game. But at the same time, running is always a confidence booster. And definitely doing all those runs in the domestic season helped me be more confident and calm when I went out to bat.
But at the end of the day, you have to have a very aggressive approach when you get into the Indian Premier League, and your mentality will definitely change.Question: You’ve gone from being a classic top-order hitter to someone who can switch gears explosively. What has changed mentally and technically?There is a lot that has changed mentally and artistically. Firstly, mentally, obviously you need to believe that you can bat at a pace that will make you successful in the Indian Premier League, and that is something I have had to work on a lot. I grew up playing a certain way, and making that transition isn’t that easy. And of course, from a technical standpoint, I’ve been working with Andy Flower, Mo Popat, and Dinesh Karthik a lot over the past couple of years to get certain things right in terms of my balance while batting, the positions I take before releasing the ball, and some other aspects of batting.
I won’t go into technical details, but there are certainly a lot of things that contributed to getting me to where I am now.
He watches
Angkrish Raghuvanshi focused only on the team’s victories
S. With so many batsmen in Royal Challengers Bengaluru, how do you define your role in this batting line-up?It’s very clear to me what I should do when I go out there. I need to keep the momentum going. We have some really explosive hitters throughout the lineup. And when you have that kind of firepower, you have to make sure you don’t break that momentum.
That’s what I’m looking to do and keep it simple from there.Question: You’ve had good seasons in the Indian Premier League before, and India’s call-ups haven’t come as frequently as your numbers deserve. Does that still drive you or have you made peace with just controlling what you can?Of course, playing for India is the ultimate goal! Whenever you score a goal, you hope that you will be noticed and be in the reckoning to play for the country, and it remains the same.
But at the end of the day, you can only control what you can, and that’s what I’m looking to do. Hopefully, if I keep doing well and keep doing the right things, I’ll get there eventually.Question: With a busy international schedule, do you allow yourself to think about the Indian jersey, or is that a conversation you deliberately keep out of your head?never! I don’t try to keep it out of my head because that’s the goal I want to achieve, and that’s the thing that keeps pushing me. It’s important to keep dreaming and keep making sure those thoughts don’t leave you. It’s important to continue to believe that you will achieve it, and having that goal in front of me drives me that much more.