Bengaluru, April 6 Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Devdutt Padikkal attributed his growing confidence in limited-overs formats to his willingness to step out of his comfort zone and "change the foundation" of his batting.
Padikkal followed his 61 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening game with a 50 against Chennai Super Kings here on Sunday, fueling RCB's batting charge, which culminated in a 43-run win.
"It's just a lot of hard work and self-belief that has helped me get here. It wasn't easy to make that change because it was something I had to change from the foundation I had in terms of the type of cricket I wanted to play," Padikkal said in the post-match press conference on Sunday night.
"The change is something I had to consciously make, and RCB and the entire support staff have been really great in guiding me in the right way," he added.
However, is there a danger of T20s becoming unidimensional because all the batters are looking to improve their range-hitting skills?
"I don't think so because the batting in this tournament has gone up another level. I think everyone is working so hard to hit those big sixes and fours, and it's now the bowler's job to really follow that and try to take their game up a level as well. I think we are going to see that," he said.
The left-hander believes bowlers will make a comeback sooner rather than later from the early rounds of dominance.
"I'm very confident that all the bowlers will also show up, and as the tournament goes on, the pitches will also start to slow down a little bit, and those things will change, and that's how it goes," he said.
However, that thought did not stop him from admiring the power-hitting skills of teammate Tim David, who smoked a 70 off 25 balls to dismantle the CSK attack.
"We see him do this day in and day out in practice sessions, and every ball he faces, he's trying to hit it for a six, especially in the phase of the game that he comes into bat, that's his sole role, and he's done that so well over the last few years," Padikkal said.
"It's incredible, and it all comes down to practice because he's so confident in his technique and the areas that he wants to hit. When he goes out there, he's very clear about which bowler he needs to target, and when you have that clarity in your head, I think it makes it a lot easier," he gushed.
Beyond an individual level, Padikkal said, RCB as a team has also imbibed the motto of aggression without sacrificing prudence from last season.
"Even last season, we had a couple of games early on where we struggled and ended up losing maybe three or four wickets, and that put us on the back foot. We had a conversation midway through last year that we needed to make sure that when the wicket is behaving in such a way, we have those wickets in hand, and the moment the ball gets a little older, it gets much easier to bat on," he said.
"We had to make sure that we are not three or four down by the 10-over mark, and once we were able to do that, we could just go from every ball. So, I think the way the entire unit has been batting since the start of last season has been really incredible," he noted