IPL 2026, Devdutt Padikkal: The first match of IPL 2026 was full of fours and sixes. In this match played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Sunrisers Hyderabad set a big target of 202 runs for RCB. In response, RCB took great advantage of the impact player rule. Despite not being included in the playing eleven, Devdutt Padikkal was fielded as an impact player and he completely changed the course of the match.
Devdutt Padikkal played a stormy innings
In this match, Devdutt Padikkal, who came on the field in place of Jacob Duffy, got a chance to bat at number three. Batting aggressively, he completed his half-century in just 21 balls. Facing a total of 26 balls, he scored 61 runs, which included 7 fours and 4 sixes. His aggressive innings strengthened RCB’s hopes of victory.
Pure class. Pure timing. Pure entertainment.
A spectacular 2⃣1⃣-ball 5⃣0⃣* from @devdpd07
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Devdutt Padikkal had shown amazing performance last season too and scored 247 runs in 10 matches. But he could not play the entire season due to injury. Despite this, Royal Challengers Bangalore retained him and he started this season with a explosive innings.
Impact player was used properly
The use of this impact player proved to be very successful for RCB because before this, Jacob Duffy had performed brilliantly in bowling. New Zealand’s fast bowler bowled 4 consecutive overs and took 3 wickets for just 22 runs. During this, he also bowled 13 dot balls, due to which the start of Sunrisers Hyderabad was badly spoiled. Jacob Duffy gave a blow to SRH by three wickets for 29 runs by sending big batsmen like Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy to the pavilion in the powerplay itself.