Royal Challengers Bengaluru continued their winning momentum away from home, with their fifth consecutive win as well. Talented batter Devdutt Padikkal was one of RCB’s key players with a 35-ball 61 against Punjab Kings as well. Despite their amazing show, Padikkal did not bother much into their contrasting form at home and focused on the positives instead as well.

“To be honest, I think it’s just a coincidence that our wins have come away from home, but at the same time we have played some really good cricket throughout the tournament. I feel we have really gelled well as a unit and that shows, each time we suffer a loss, we are immediately back up and we are winning games after that. So, it’s important that now we continue this momentum and really find a way to win at home as well because of course that’s really an important part and the Chinnaswamy deserves to see some wins.”

However, RCB have struggled to step up at home, struggling to read the conditions. Padikkal denied that the pitch was an issue there but felt the batting order could do better as well.

ALSO READ: “Aap Lucknow ke naye nawab hain” – Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant’s appointment as LSG captain

“I don’t think there is anything to do with the pitch, to be honest. It’s important that as a batting unit we read the pitch quick enough. I feel that’s something that we have not really done as well as possible to be honest, we have not been up to the mark but that’s part of the tournament that IPL is, it always has challenges and this is a challenge that for us as a team, it’s important that we find a way.”

However, Padikkal has scored 180 runs this season, which came at a strike-rate of 150, but things were tough for him in the IPL before that. Last year, for the LSG, he had his worst season yet with just 38 runs across seven games as well. He also admitted that he worked on his T20 batting over the last year to get to where he is today, and taking responsibility for his poor shows was the first step to getting back to his best as well.

ALSO READ: “In the next T20 World Cup in India, he’ll be number one bowler” – Mohammad Kaif on Varun Chakravarthy

“Nothing really special to be honest, I have been batting pretty well this season. I have enjoyed my batting, that’s the most important part. Over the last year or so I have really worked hard on getting to where I am in T20 cricket. Obviously, the previous couple of years wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t great. I wasn’t up to the mark and I was the first one to take responsibility for that and once you take that responsibility and understand that you weren’t good enough, I think that’s where you can then start getting better and that’s all that it took to be honest, I had to just go back to the drawing board and really work on myself,” Padikkal again said.

“Definitely with DK and Andy, the last 2-3 months before the IPL have been really important for me, not just technically we have made some changes but also tactically. The knowledge that they have, the understanding of how bowlers think and that kind of knowledge and that little bit of extra edge that it gives you was something really important for me coming into the season. It’s helped me plan my innings a lot better and I feel in the IPL, it’s very important that you have clarity in your head once you go out there to bat because everything is very fast paced, so I feel DK and Andy have really helped me getting that structure and clarity in my batting,” Devdutt Padikkal concluded.