It’s Bangalore Blasters vs. Gulbarga Mystics in the finals of the Maharaja Trophy. The revamped version of the Karnataka Premiere league organized by the KSCA has reached its final stage. Mayank Agarwal-led Bangalore Blasters booked their place in the finals within Qualifier 1 by beating Gulbarga Mystics. However, Manish Pandey and his clan had to wait up until Qualifier 2 to return to be on the spot.
Devdutt Padikkal led his team to the finals in a match that was inclined in the opposite direction throughout the duration. After winning the toss, Manish Pandey, the Gulbarga Mystics captain chose to chase. And the chase started after Mysore Warriors registered a score of 157 with 5 wickets down. However, the chase didn’t go as easy as expected.
The warriors scalped 4 quick wickets with the openers Jeswanth Acharya and Rohan Patil adding just 5 runs on the board. Moreover, the captain Manish Pandey and keeper Krishan Srijith didn’t help matters much. However, in all this Devdutt Padikkal, who came in at 3 held his ground. The majestic left-hander scored an unbeaten 96 off 64 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes. And with the help of Manoj Bhandage who walked in at no. 5, Padikkal cruised his team into the finals.
Devdutt Padikkal talks about his batting positions
Devdutt Padikkal's unbeaten 96* off 64 takes Gulbarga Mystics to Finals #Maharajatrophy #devduttpadikkal #gulbargamystics pic.twitter.com/aszklshVau
— Extra Pace (@Extra_Pace) August 25, 2022
Padikkal registered his name in the IPL prodigies with two consecutive blazing seasons with RCB. The 22-year-old acquired the Emerging player of the season in the 2020 IPL. His maiden century followed in the 2021 season against Rajasthan Royals. The same team clinched Padikkal in the mega auction for the 2022 edition of the tournament. And the left-hander played at different spots throughout the season, as the Royals tried him out as a middle-order anchor. Padikkal fared well at the position.
As the vice-captain of Gulbarga Mystics, he opened up in an interaction after earning the finals spot. “Definitely, opening is the position where I have played the most, but these days, you can’t just be a one-trick pony. You can’t just say that you are an opener. So, I am really enjoying these new challenges and hopefully, I can continue to excel in it,” Padikkal said about transitioning to different batting positions.
Moreover, he added, “To be honest, I don’t really think of getting into the Indian team. I just play every game as it comes and every game is important to me, the Maharaja Trophy, the Ranji Trophy, or Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Every game is important to me. That’s how I look at it.”
