IPL 2021 | Virat is at such high level that you need to push yourself batting with him, reveals Devdutt Padikkal

Karnataka opener Devdutt Padikkal hogged the limelight when he accumulated 473 runs in 15 games with a strike-rate of 124.80 in the 2020 IPL. He shone through with five fifties and averaged 31.53. His strokeplay had class written all over it and the southpaw was soon a well-known name in India. He capitalized on his good form from IPL and hammered 737 runs at an average of 147.40 with four hundreds and three fifties in this year's Vijay Hazare Trophy as well. 

He's again supposed to be a strong part of the RCB batting line-up that will be boosted with the addition of Glenn Maxwell in the middle-order. Speaking about batting with Virat Kohli for RCB, the left-hander revealed that he bats at such a level, it inspires him to push himself as well. 

"He plays at such a high level; when you are batting with him, you feel you have to really push yourself and match the standard at which he plays. That helped improve my game. Batting with him, he makes the game pretty easy. He understands the game so well, when to take a chance and when to pull back, and when to really go after the bowling. When you have so much knowledge and experience it makes our job very easy at the other end," Padikkal told HT. 

Not only Virat, but Padikkal also gets to bat with AB de Villiers for RCB. He stated that AB is a special player and whatever the Protean tells him is very precious to him. 

"He is such a special player. You have to just watch and admire how he bats. Whenever we spoke, he just told me to stay in the zone and continue to bat the way I was batting, whatever few words he spoke to me were really special. He used to tell me to keep working and that this is just a beginning and there is a long way to go," the RCB opener said about AB De Villiers. 

He also asserted that there is a lot to learn from both Virat and De Villiers, especially the kind of passion that gets the best out of them. 

"That was a pretty special experience to have. You get to learn so much from them. The kind of passion and drive they have for the game, the way they play, the way they carry themselves through the busy, long tournament. It is not easy to handle all that pressure, especially when the team is looking at you to take the responsibility. How they handle was great to see, and that is something I picked up from them."