3 teams that should target Devdutt Padikkal in the IPL 2025 Auction ft. RCB

Devdutt Padikkal announced his arrival in the Indian Premier League with his top-quality batting performances in 2020 and 2021. The left-handed Indian batter won the Emerging Player of the Season award in 2020, courtesy of his 473 runs in 15 innings for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team.

In 2021, Padikkal continued in the same vein and ended with 411 runs in 14 innings, including a memorable century against the Rajasthan Royals. Due to the mega auction rules in 2022, RCB let go of Padikkal, and he then became a part of the RR squad.

RR did not use him properly as frequent changes in batting positions resulted in Padikkal's batting average slipping from 31.62 in 2021 to 22.12 in 2022. While Padikkal's average increased to 26.10 in 2023, his performance was nowhere near the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Rajasthan decided to trade the southpaw to the Lucknow Super Giants last season, where he had the worst season of his IPL career. In seven matches, Padikkal managed only 38 runs at an average of 5.43 and a strike rate of 71.7.

Unsurprisingly, LSG have not retained Padikkal ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Although the rising star had a disastrous season in 2024, multiple teams may show interest in his services at the mega auction because of the talent he possesses.

Here's a list of three teams which should go for Padikkal at the mega auction.

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#1 Royal Challengers Bengaluru should welcome Devdutt Padikkal back home

The opening combination of Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli worked wonders for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first phase of IPL 2021. No RCB fan can forget the unbeaten 181-run stand between Padikkal and Kohli for the first wicket against the Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium.

Padikkal has grown up playing cricket in Karnataka, and he has a great idea about the conditions at M Chinnaswamy Stadium as well. With Faf du Plessis released from the team, RCB need a new opening partner for Kohli, and Padikkal could be a great choice.

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#2 Lucknow Super Giants

As mentioned earlier, the Lucknow Super Giants recruited Devdutt Padikkal in the trade window last year, but the southpaw could not perform as per expectations. One of the major reasons behind Padikkal's failure was that his batting position was changed regularly.

He has produced his best IPL performances as an opener, but due to the presence of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, Padikkal wasn't LSG's first-choice opener. Now that the Super Giants have released both Rahul and De Kock, they can think of giving another chance to Padikkal, this time as a full-time opener.

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#3 Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals have let go of their openers Prithvi Shaw, Jake Fraser-McGurk and David Warner ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. The IPL 2020 finalists are in need of new opening batters, and they can perhaps bid for Devdutt Padikkal at the mega auction.

The conditions at the Arun Jaitley Stadium have been excellent for batting in recent times, and a batter like Padikkal would enjoy batting in Delhi. With explosive batters like Abishek Porel and Tristan Stubbs already present in the team, an anchor like Padikkal can provide some much-needed balance to DC's batting lineup.