New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Devdutt Padikkal is no longer just the elegant timer of the ball; he’s evolving into a complete T20 force. Fresh off a blistering 61 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Padikkal, in an exclusive interview to TOI, opened up on the mental reset behind his aggressive shift, the technical fine-tuning with RCB’s think tank, and the clarity of his role in a power-packed lineup. As the IPL 2026 season intensifies, his ambitions remain firmly fixed on the India jersey. This season is the battle of fearless prodigies, heavyweights and legends, and Padikkal is determined to belong among them. Excerpts… Q. That 61 off 26 against Sunrisers Hyderabad… did it feel like a continuation of your Vijay Hazare Trophy form, or was there a conscious shift in approach for the IPL? It’s very different when you go into an IPL game. But at the same time, having runs is always a confidence booster. And having all those runs in the domestic season definitely helped me be a lot more confident and calmer when I went out there to bat. But at the end of the day, you need to have a very aggressive approach when you go into the IPL, and your mindset definitely shifts. Q. You’ve gone from being seen as a classical top-order batter to someone who can switch gears explosively. What changed mentally and technically? There’s a lot that’s changed mentally as well as technically. Firstly, mentally, you obviously need to believe that you are capable of batting at a tempo that is going to make you successful in the IPL, and that’s something that I had to work on a lot. I have grown up batting a certain way, and to make that shift is not that easy. And, of course, technically, I have worked with Andy Flower, Mo Bobat and Dinesh Karthik quite a lot over the last couple of years to get certain things right in terms of my balance while I bat, the positions that I get into before the ball is released, and some other batting-related aspects. I won’t go into the technicalities, but there is definitely a lot that has gone into getting to where I am right now. Q. With Royal Challengers Bengaluru having multiple power-hitters, how do you define your role in this batting lineup? It’s pretty clear for me what I need to do when I go out there. I need to keep the momentum going. We have some really explosive batters throughout the lineup. And when you have that kind of firepower, you need to make sure that you don’t break that momentum. That’s what I look to do and just keep it simple from there. Q. You’ve had good IPL seasons before, and the India call-up hasn’t come as frequently as perhaps your numbers deserve. Does that still drive you, or have you made peace with just controlling what you can? Of course, playing for India is the ultimate goal! And whenever you score runs, you hope that you are being noticed and that you are in the reckoning to play for the country, and that remains the same. But at the end of the day, you can only control what you can, and that is what I am looking to do. Hopefully, if I continue to perform well and continue to do the right things, I will get there eventually. Q. With a busy international calendar ahead, do you allow yourself to think about that India jersey, or is that a conversation you deliberately keep out of your head? Not at all! I don’t try to keep it out of my head because that is a goal that I want to achieve, and that’s something that keeps driving me. It’s important that you continue to dream and continue to make sure that those thoughts are not leaving you. It’s important that you continue to believe that you’re going to make it, and having that goal in front of me pushes me a lot more.
