Devdutt Padikkal can have issues with short balls.
Devdutt Padikkal has been in sublime form in IPL 2026. He has been equally ruthless against pace and spin at No.3. His partnership with Virat Kohli has been one of the biggest reasons for RCB’s batting success.
However, Delhi Capitals (DC) can restrict Devdutt Padikkal with pace in Delhi. A recent pattern emerging from his game against fast bowlers has been his inability to counter shorter lengths. His back-foot game hasn’t been too strong, even though teams haven’t exploited it enough just yet.
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In IPL 2026, Devdutt Padikkal has been dismissed thrice vs pace, two of them have come on deliveries shorter than 8 meters. On all deliveries shorter than 8 meters, his strike rate falls to 125.64, and he plays around 48.71% false shots. He also faces around 35.89% dot balls.
On other fuller lengths combined, Padikkal strikes at a whopping 267.56 and false shots reduce to 28.57%. Dot balls also reduce to 25.71%. He has been dismissed once and hits a boundary every 1.94 deliveries.
That’s also why Padikkal hasn’t been too proficient on the back foot and often plays a lot of false shots. On all deliveries on the back foot, backed away, going deep into the crease, or ducked vs pace, the southpaw has struck at just 140 and played around 44.44% false shots. Additionally, he plays around 31.11% dot balls.
While playing on the front foot or coming down the track, his strike rate surges to 280.64, and he hits a boundary every second delivery. False shots reduce to 32.25% only, despite hitting way more boundaries. Clearly, his issues are too obvious and exploitable, and pushing him off the back foot with short balls is the only way to stop him at the moment.
Lungi Ngidi might not play in the game since he was concussed against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and might not recover in time. There’s just a gap of one day between the two matches, and concussion protocols usually require seven days. Hence, DC might employ Dushmantha Chameera in this game, and he might be the perfect bowler for Padikkal.
Chameera’s lengths are shorter, and he has the pace to bowl heavy balls into the pitch. He’s the quickest bowler in DC’s attack, with natural attributes suited to bowling hard lengths. Even other pacers can employ short balls.
For instance, T Natarajan, who might also bowl to the southpaw, has attempted several short balls without much success. Around 32.21% of his deliveries have been shorter than 8 meters, but he has fetched only a solitary wicket and conceded around 10.12 runs per over. However, he will fancy his chances again, especially against Padikkal, to find some success.
Meanwhile, Mukesh Kumar has taken most of his wickets with fuller balls and can start with them again, but should shift to shorter lengths as soon as Devdutt Padikkal comes. The same goes for Auqib Nabi, should he be in the attack by then. The lines will need to be on off stump or just outside off stump at times.
Those will force him to either play on the off-side or put extra effort to drag on the leg-side, as Avesh Khan did in Bengaluru earlier this season. Notably, this contest will be played on the same strip where DC faced the Gujarat Titans (GT) earlier this season. In that game, pacers fetched three wickets for 24 runs apiece and conceded only 7.85 runs per over on shorter lengths (> than 8 meters).
Those lengths will likely be effective again, so there’s no reason not to use short balls straight away. DC will need to bounce Devdutt Padikkal out at any cost because he hasn’t been taking enough balls to make an impact these days. On flat surfaces, other lengths are unlikely to work against him anyway.
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