Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 105 against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday night left many impressed inside the Royal Challengers Bengaluru dressing room, but for Devdutt Padikkal, the innings stood out even more because of what had come before it.
Kohli had entered the contest in Raipur after back-to-back ducks, an unfamiliar situation for a batsman who has built his career on consistency across formats for nearly two decades. Padikkal said bouncing back from that sort of scrutiny was never easy, especially for someone who carries Kohli’s level of expectation every game.
“It was incredible to watch. I think I had the best seat in the house tonight,” Padikkal said after RCB’s six-wicket win over KKR.
“Some of the shots he played were simply remarkable. Obviously, coming into this game after two ducks is never easy, and he showed why he is who he is.”
Chasing 193, RCB lost Jacob Bethell early and once again found themselves needing a stabilising partnership at the top. Padikkal joined Kohli in the fourth over, and the pair ensured there were no further setbacks during the middle overs, putting on 92 runs for the second wicket.
Padikkal said there was no detailed discussion about one batsman attacking while the other anchored the chase. Instead, the focus was on batting deep enough to leave the rest of the line-up with a manageable finish.
“I think we didn’t really go into the specifics of anchoring. It was more about making sure that we took the game to a certain stage where we felt that the rest of our batting lineup would be in a comfortable position,” the left-hander said.
He explained that RCB had struggled in recent matches after losing early wickets and failing to rebuild through partnerships. That made the stand with Kohli even more important on Wednesday night.
“Both of us spoke about just elongating that partnership as long as possible and then taking it from there,” Padikkal said.
Kohli eventually finished unbeaten on 105 off 60 balls while Padikkal contributed 39 as RCB chased down the target with five balls remaining to move to the top of the IPL 2026 points table.
Padikkal also dismissed any suggestion that Kohli’s approach had changed because of the two ducks.
“Honestly, it doesn’t really change anything,” he said. “He has always bounced back, always got runs, and he showed why he is one of the best in the business today.”
The 25-year-old felt the Raipur pitch was much better for batting than the one used against Mumbai Indians on Sunday.
“It was definitely not up and down,” Padikkal said. “After the new ball, it was pretty good to bat on.”
Padikkal added that modern T20 batting line-ups now viewed almost every target under 200 as chaseable, especially with the kind of depth RCB possess.
“I think anything these days under 200 feels like a chaseable target,” he said.
“When you have a batting lineup like we do, it is important that we make sure these chases are done easily.”
Padikkal, who has been regularly used as an impact sub, also said fielding before batting helped him understand the pace of the wicket and settle into the game quicker. “You don’t want to come in cold when you are coming into bat,” he said. “It gives you an idea of the areas you can target and the pace of the game before batting starts.”
