IPL 2021: Padikkal likely to play against SunRisers, says Hesson
Apr 14, 2021
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 14 : Mike Hesson, Director of Cricket, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has said that opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal is likely to play against the SunRisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Ahead of IPL 2021, Padikkal had tested positive for Covid-19 and he was undergoing home quarantine. After returning three negative Covid-19 tests, he joined RCB's team bubble in Chennai.
"Devdutt Padikkal has come back nicely, he would be fully fit so he will be considered for the game against SunRisers, and most likely, he would play. Finn Allen has come out of quarantine and looks in great touch, we would have Zampa and Richardson back heading into the next game as well, they will get out the day of the game," Hesson said in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.
Padikkal played his first season for RCB last year and he managed to leave a good impression after scoring 473 runs from 15 matches at an average of 31.53 with his best score being 74.
Harshal had delivered a stunning bowling performance before AB de Villiers' masterclass took RCB home against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening game of IPL. Harshal had picked five wickets (three in the final over) to restrict Rohit Sharma's side to 159.
"Look, we are very happy with the start we had, I think we deserved to win the game against Mumbai Indians. We did a lot of hard work, I guess the only thing is we would have wanted to finish the game off against Mumbai two or three wickets down, it was a great partnership between Virat and Maxwell. When we look back at the game, we have got few little areas to improve upon and that is great. We did a lot of things really well, obviously with the ball and with a partnership in the middle," said head coach Simon Katich.
"It was an interesting wicket, the first one. It certainly wasn't that easy to bat on. The quality of the bowling was really good, it will all depend on the pace of the wicket. It certainly was on the slower side and difficult to score," he added.
RCB will take on SunRisers Hyderabad here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium later today in the IPL 2021.
