Devdutt Padikkal is one of the reasons for the great start to Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) title defence. The tall left-hander struck fifties in both the RCB matches at this Indian Premier League (IPL).

And he made those runs at frenetic pace – 61 off 26 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad and 50 off 29 against Chennai Super Kings. The hard work behind the scenes is paying off for him.

“Over the last couple of years, I have been actively working on trying to improve my strike rate,” he said. “I am glad that those processes and that hard work that has gone behind the scenes are really coming to fruition now.”

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He stressed batting was not just about the strike rate. “It is important that at the end of the day, you play the situation as well,” he said. “It is important that you continue to help the team win games, and as long as I am able to contribute, I am very happy.”

He said he took a lot of confidence from the domestic season. “I have scored a lot of runs coming into the season and I was really consistent,” he said. “Whenever you have that performance behind you, it gives you confidence.”

Looking ahead to Friday’s match against Rajasthan Royals, he said it could be a difficult one for his team. “They have a really good side and some really exciting and talented young players,” Padikkal said. “But at the same time, we are coming into this game with some confidence.”