Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Gujarat Titans at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, with Virat Kohli scoring yet another half-century in the IPL.
Having been dropped on his first ball, Virat Kohli went on to win the Player of the Match award by scoring 81 runs off 44 balls, including eight fours and four sixes. In the post-match presentation, after receiving the award, he mentioned that Devdutt Padikkal’s innings also played a huge role.
“He (Devdutt) has the game awareness and the ability, especially in conditions like ours, to be able to play good cricketing shots and hurt opposition, striking over 200, which is quite rare, to be honest. You never see him slogging the ball. You feel like he’s not giving you a sniff in the game and yet he’s scoring so freely. So I think Dev’s innings was the clear difference in the first half,” Virat Kohli said.
Since 2025, Devdutt Padikkal has played a key role in his partnerships with Virat Kohli.
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In the 2026 season, they have already put together two century partnerships. In the first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, while chasing 202, RCB lost Phil Salt early and were 9/1. But when Devdutt Padikkal came to the crease, he and Kohli added 101 runs in just 7.3 overs and turned the game in RCB’s favour.
They scored at a run rate of 13.46 during that partnership. Padikkal made 61 off 26 balls, while Kohli scored 30 off 19 before Padikkal was dismissed. Kohli then went on to score 69 not out off 38 balls, but it was Padikkal’s explosive innings at a strike rate of 234.62 that changed the match.
Similarly, in the match against Gujarat Titans, while chasing 206, Jacob Bethell got out when RCB were 24/1. What looked like a difficult chase on that pitch quickly changed once Padikkal came in.
He scored a brilliant 55 off 27 balls and added 115 runs with Kohli in just 9.5 overs. Kohli also played a fine knock of 59 off 32 balls, but Padikkal was once again the aggressor and took the game away from Gujarat Titans.
This season, Kohli and Padikkal have batted together in four innings. They have scored 318 runs at an average of 79.5 and a run rate of 12.3, including two century partnerships and one fifty partnership.
It was in the 2025 season that the duo started doing well together. In RCB’s title-winning campaign, they batted together in nine innings and scored 453 runs at an average of 56.62 and a run rate of 9.5. They also added one century partnership and three fifty partnerships. They were the second-highest scoring pair for RCB that season, with Kohli and Phil Salt being the highest.
This year, with Padikkal in excellent form, their run rate and average have improved even further. It has also helped Virat Kohli play his natural game.
Overall, since last year, they have batted together in 13 innings and scored 771 runs at an average of 64.25 and a run rate of 10.48. They have put together three century partnerships and four fifty partnerships.
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