Former West Indies batting legend Brian Lara has praised Karnataka and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s talented opener Devdutt Padikkal. He was already impressed with his performance so far but he also wants him to get a few more ‘Man of the match’ awards in the upcoming games of the 2021 edition of the India Premier League (IPL) 2021.

While speaking exclusively on Star Sports’ Select Dugout Live Feed, Lara said: “He’s (Devduutt Padikkal) such a great talent. Last year he got a couple of fifties, he batted well, he supported Virat Kohli very well. What I want to see in 2021 IPL is for him to go on and get a few man of the matches and get a couple of triple figures under his belt. Such a great little player! A few little things to iron out. I hope he did that in the break and comes back really storming hard for this IPL.”

However, Padikkal has scored only 11 runs so far but he has amassed 473 in 15 games last year in the UAE at an impressive strike rate of 124 as well. Meanwhile, before the league starts, he was affected by the COVID-19 and recently joined the team after being fully recovered.

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“Covid was a setback, I wished that it did not happen but that is something I could not control so once it was there, I had to accept the way it was. It was just about making sure that I stay fit and be ready for the game. I am completely fine now, most importantly I am able to move around. Unless you are a 100 per cent, you cannot push yourself so I just wanted to make sure that I am 100 per cent,” said Devdutt Padikkal in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.

The youngster has been in sublime form for quite some time now. Following the IPL 2020 in the UAE, where he finished as the highest scorer of his side, he had a stunning Vijay Hazare Trophy too where he finished as the second-highest run-getter with a whopping 737 runs as well.