Devdutt Padikkal revealed that he always had a soft spot for Royal Challengers Bengaluru(RCB) and felt “weird” playing against them in previous seasons.
Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, Devdutt Padikkal has revealed that he has a strong emotional connection with the RCB. Padikkal, retained among 17 players ahead of the auction, previously represented the franchise in 2020 and 2021 before moving to other teams. He said playing against Bengaluru felt unusual as his support for the side dated back to his childhood.
Padikkal also spoke about missing the chance to play at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium during his first season. Pandemic restrictions had kept matches away from the venue.
“It was weird. My friends and family were supporting me. Coming out to play for other teams against RCB was always a little bit weird. Obviously, I’m still motivated the same way in terms of wanting to perform and doing things for the franchise I was playing for. But I’ve always had that soft spot for RCB and always looked at their games as games I love to watch and see them do well as well,” shared Padikkal while speaking on RCB Podcast.
“I’ve always wanted to play in front of the Chinnaswamy in the IPL, and whenever I’ve come here and played for other teams, it’s not been the same, to be honest. It’s never felt the same in terms of doing it for RCB. When I was in RCB before, unfortunately, we couldn’t have games here, so it was pretty heartbreaking,” he added.
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RCB ended their long title wait in Devdutt Padikkal’s third season, where he contributed 247 runs in 10 games at a 150.60 strike rate. Padikkal later impressed for Karnataka with 309 runs in six Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches. The IPL 2026 Mini Auction takes place on December 17.
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