This was his third half-century of the season, with two of them coming against the Mangalore Dragons.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star Devdutt Padikkal shined for Hubli Tigers in the Maharaja Trophy 2025, scoring a half-century against the Mangalore Dragons at the Srikantadatta Narasimha Raja Wadeyar Ground in Mysore, boosting his Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 retention chances.
Hubli Tigers batted first and posted 152/7 in their 20 overs. Skipper Devdutt Padikkal opened the innings with Mohammed Taha, who was dismissed early. Soon after, Vijaya Basavaraj Raj also departed for a duck.
Padikkal then built a 46-run stand with Krishnan Shrijith before stitching an impressive 59-run partnership with Abhinav Manohar. After Manohar’s dismissal, Padikkal also fell in the next over, but by then Hubli had reached 136/5. He played a superb knock of 63 off 45 balls, including six fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 140.00. His innings proved crucial in pushing the team past 150, as apart from Manohar’s 36, no other batter made a significant contribution.
This was Devdutt Padikkal’s third half-century of the season, with two of them coming against the Mangalore Dragons.
In the second innings, the Hubli Tigers restricted Mangalore Dragons for 129 all out and won the match by 23 runs. For the Hubli Tigers, KC Cariappa and Yash Raj Punja took three wickets each and Shreesha Achar and Nathan D’Mello picked two wickets each.
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Devdutt Padikkal might have strengthened his case for retention ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. For RCB in the IPL 2025 season, he scored 247 runs in the 10 matches he played at a strike rate of 150.60 while batting at No.3. Unfortunately, he had to miss the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury and was ruled out of the tournament. In his place, Mayank Agarwal came in as a replacement and did a decent job. There is a possibility that RCB might retain both, but Padikkal will likely be a priority since he performed well in the matches he played for them.
In the Maharaja Trophy 2025, he has scored 186 runs in six matches at an average of 31 and a strike rate of 139.85. He is currently the third-leading run-scorer in the tournament this season. With three half-centuries already to his name, if he continues his good form, it will boost his confidence as well as RCB’s chances of retaining him ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
