"It's Definitely Challenging When...": Royal Challengers Bengaluru Star Opens Up On Struggles In IPL

Young batter Devdutt Padikkal acknowledged that the constant shifting through the teams "was challenging" and delayed his blooming as a cricketer in the Indian Premier League. Devdutt began his IPL career at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2020 and shifted to Rajasthan Royals after two seasons. After being in the ranks of RR for two years (2022-2023), the left-hander moved to Lucknow Super Giants in 2024, before returning to his home franchise RCB this season. He is yet to fire big this season, but Devdutt showed signs of being in his dominant self with a 22-ball 37 against Mumbai Indians on Monday.

"It's definitely challenging when you are not settled on any side. As a 21-year-old, I was in RCB and when I made that move to another franchise, it was a little uncomfortable, obviously," he told the media in the post-match press meet.

"I wasn't very confident about myself and it took me three-four years to really find what I am as a cricketer in the IPL. It's not that easy. You try your hardest, but at times it just doesn't work," he added.

Devdutt said he had made a dedicated pre-season effort to iron out certain flaws in his batting.

"Coming into this season, obviously, I had to work really hard. I knew there were things that I needed to improve on. There were lots of aspects of the game that I wasn't up to the mark I felt in the last year. I had a good couple of months before the IPL started and I feel all that hard work is coming into effect now," he said.

Devdutt, who added 91 runs for the second wicket with Virat Kohli to help RCB set a huge target of 222 against MI, said batting with the star batter was always a "pleasure".

"Obviously, batting with Virat is a pleasure. He's done this over and over again for so many