IPL 2020, SRH vs RCB: Devdutt Padikkal surpasses AB de Villiers for Royal Challengers Bangalore record

Devdutt Padikkal surpassed AB de Villiers in a Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) record in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday.

Padikkal made his IPL debut during RCB's IPL 2020 opening fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Dubai. The Karnataka batsman, who is tipped to be a future Indian star, scored an entertaining 42-ball 56. By doing so, he now has the second-highest score for RCB on debut, going past de Villiers, who had scored 54 in his first match for the Bangalore franchise in 2011. Chris Gayle's 102 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2011 remains the highest score on debut by an RCB player.

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The 20-year-old, who was the fifth player to score a fifty on debut for RCB, has had a tradition of scoring a 50-plus score on debut. Padikkal scored a half-century on his First-Class debut in 2018. The following year, the Karnataka opening batsman kickstarted his List A career with a fifty as well before he repeated the feat when he made his T20 debut later that year. Keeping the ritual intact, Padikkal did the same on his IPL debut and announced himself on the huge platform.

The last player to have registered a fifty on IPL debut was England's Sam Billings, who scored 34-ball 54 for Delhi Capitals against KKR in 2016. Before Padikka's 56 on debut, the last Indian who scored a half-century on IPL debut was Kedar Jadhav, who achieved the feat 10 years ago.

Padikkal, who took on the likes of Sandeep Sharma and T Natarajan, smashed eight fours in his innings that he played with a strike-rate of over 130. Prior to the RCB vs SRH match on Monday, Padikkal had played 12 T20s, scoring 580 runs at an average of 64.44 at a mind-boggling strike-rate of 175.75.

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He opened RCB's innings with Australian captain Aaron Finch after SRH captain David Warner won the toss and put the Bangalore side to bat. The two powered RCB to 86 in 10 overs before Padikkal was dismissed by SRH pacer Vijay Shankar on the final ball of the 11th over.