Rajasthan Royals batter Devdutt Padikkal was extremely surprised with his Player of the Match performance against Punjab Kings and described it as the best he has hit the ball apart from his net sessions. Chasing 188, Rajasthan was in early trouble after opener Jos Buttler was dismissed on duck for the third consecutive time.
Here came Padikkal who steadied the Royals' innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal as the duo posted a partnership of 73 runs. As Jaiswal took his time, the Karnataka batter took an aggressive approach as he scored 51 in 30 balls before getting out against Arshdeep Singh.
A knock which included five fours and three sixes created a platform for other batters to score runs and win the game in the final over. Later in the post-match presentation, Padikkal talked about how this was the best he batted apart from his time in the nets.
Devdutt Padikkal said, "Apart from the net sessions, this is the best hitting I have done this season. Coming into the season I was feeling good. But it didn't pan out the way I thought. Every game as a cricketer you want to win it for your side. To be honest, it has been that kind of a season. I have been all over the batting order. I need to learn batting at every position. At the start of the season, I thought I might not make it."