IPL 2021: Fit-again Devdutt Padikkal raring to go after hitting COVID-19 for a six

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal has said while testing positive for COVID-19 was a setback, he is perfectly fine now and is trying to stay fit and be ready for the game. It so happened that 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.

'COVID was a setback': Devdutt Padikkal

“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 percent, you cannot push yourself so I just wanted to make sure that I am 100 percent,” said Padikkal in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.

“It has been a roller coaster to an extent. Last IPL was amazing for me and it was such a great experience. The opportunities I got and the fact that I was able to contribute to the side were all that mattered. After that, Syed Mushtaq Ali was decent, and then Vijay Hazare, I was just looking to get into my rhythm, it was really great to have the runs behind me coming into the IPL. I know I am confident as I have runs behind me in the domestic season,” he added.

Devdutt Padikkal in IPL 2020

The southpaw had an excellent outing in the previous edition where he had amassed 473 runs from 15 matches at an average of 31.53 and a strike rate of 124.80 including five half-centuries with his best score being 74.

At the same time, the left-handed batsman also had a good build-up to the IPL after he finished the Vijay Hazare Trophy as the second-highest run-getter with a tally of 737 runs.

Coming back to the ongoing IPL 2021, RCB got off to a winning start by overcoming the defending champions and five-time winners Mumbai Indians in the curtain-raiser at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday night. The three-time finalists will be eyeing a second straight win when they lock horns with southern rivals as well as their final opponents from the 2016 edition Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue on Wednesday.

(With ANI Inputs)

(Image Courtesy: PTI)