Devdutt Padikkal grabbed the headlines in his debut match with an entertaining half-century as he inspired the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a winning start in the IPL, against SunRisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Monday.
The 20-year-old Karnataka batsman, who came into the IPL, on the back of some top performances in domestic cricket lived up to his top billing in his first-ever IPL game.
The tall left-hander smashed a quickfire half-century to give RCB the perfect start after they were put into bat by SunRisers.
Such was his impact of his strokeplay in the early overs that even someone like Australia's limited overs captain Aaron Finch was happy to play the supporting role at the other end.
Padikkal got going with a couple of boundaries off Sandeep Sharma in the second over before he drove Bhuvneshwar Kumar through the covers for another four.
He cut loose against left-arm pacer T Natarajan, hitting him for three fours in the fourth over to give RCB the momentum in the Powerplay.
He swept Abhishek Sharma for a four to bring up his fifty from just 36 balls in the 10th over before he perished in the next over, bowled by Vijay Shankar
Padikkal -- who shares a birthday with Mahendra Sngh Dhoni, 19 years apart -- entertained during his whirlwind innings of 56 from 42 balls, laced with eight fours as he put on a 90-run stand for the second with Finch that was instrumental in helping RCB cross the 150-run mark.
He has made a sensational start to his career, having hit half-centuries on his IPL debut, first class debut, List A debut and T20 debut.
