20-year-old Padikkal has hit 50+ runs on first-class, List A, T20, IPL debut

Cricket Desk: The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got their campaign underway with a game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). They decided to hand a debut to youngster Devdutt Padikkal who opened alongside Aaron Finch after being invited to bat first. The decision turned out to be a good one for the franchise as the left-hander played some delightful strokes on his way to a stunning half-century.

The opening duo played out Bhuvneshwar Kumar‘s opening over after which Padikkal took the attack to Sandeep Sharma. He backed away to make some room and slammed a short of a length delivery over the in-field to get going. Then he flicked the down the leg-side delivery past the short fine leg fielder.

The powerplay overs were simply sensational to watch for the spectators as they witnessed yet another young Indian batsman in Devdutt Padikkal taking strides in the IPL with confidence on debut.

Devdutt Padikkal dominates Aaron Finch in the partnership

Interestingly, it was the debutant who dominated his partner Aaron Finch 90-run stand for the opening wicket. And it was not all about boom or bust for Devdutt Padikkal. The southpaw manoeuvred the ball nicely into the gaps and rotated the strike as well which indicates that the Indian cricket is in good hands in the future.

Coming back to the innings, Padikkal slammed a brilliant half-century and reached the mark in the 10th over of the innings. He was also trying his luck playing his big shots and the SRH fielders also dropped a couple of chances offered. With the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers waiting in the dug out, Devdutt Padikkal then decided to go all guns blazing and in quest of quick runs, was castled by Vijay Shankar.

Nevertheless, it was an entertaining knock which impressed the experts and the fans. He made 56 runs off 42 deliveries before getting out and his innings was laced with eight delightful boundaries. Twitterati was thrilled to see him in action and lauded him for playing a superb knock.