RCB Star Unbeaten On 99 In Qualifier 1 Of State T20 League As IPL 2025 Form Continues | Cricket News

Last Updated:August 26, 2025, 18:42 IST

Devdutt Padikkal leads Hubli Tigers with a 99-run innings in Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 Qualifier 1, boosting hopes for the title after IPL 2025 injury.

Devdutt Padikkal remained unbeaten on 99 in Qualifier 1 of Maharaja Trophy (Picture credit: X)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s star batter Devdutt Padikkal continued his brilliant form into Qualifier 1 of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 on Tuesday, smashing a 64-ball 99 to help the Hubli Tigers post a whopping 210/2 batting first. Padikkal is the captain of the team.

Padikkal is a part of the South Zone for the Duleep Trophy, but with the team directly qualifying for the semifinals, he will have a golden opportunity to drive his team towards the title in the Maharaja Trophy.

Padikkal was in great touch in IPL 2025 before injuring his hamstring, scoring 247 runs in 10 matches at an average of 27.44 and a strike rate of 150.61.

On Tuesday, Padikkal and fellow opener Mohammed Taha built an 81-run partnership before the latter was dismissed by Ronit More.

Padikkal and Abhinav Manohar then built a 105-run partnership for the second wicket before the latter was dismissed by Kranthi Kumar. The former remained unbeaten on 99, one single away from a brilliant hundred.

Padikkal’s injury absence was thought to be a significant setback for Bengaluru: his left-handedness around a cluster of right-handed batters worked well for the franchise in IPL 2025.

But a day after Padikkal was replaced by senior Karnataka pro Mayank Agarwal, IPL 2025 came to a pause due to a war situation between India and Pakistan. In his first match for RCB, Agarwal scored only 11 but came back with a crucial 41 in the second match, accompanying Jitesh Sharma in a major partnership that sealed RCB’s spot in the top two.

Meanwhile, RCB’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat, has opened up on ace India batter Virat Kohli‘s supremacy in the team setup, as it was because of Kohli rating Padikkal that he was picked late in the IPL 2025 auction.

Bobat said that the inclusion of Padikkal was in the plans after they had missed out on the Kolkata Knight Riders bid for Venkatesh Iyer, who was roped in for an extensive amount of money.

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