Kerala-born Devdutt Padikkal became a Royal after an intense bidding war between the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals at the 2022 IPL mega auction. The left-handed batter is not new on the IPL stage, and his breakout performance came in the 2020 season for RCB. Oozing with class and confidence, he racked up 473 runs at an average of 31.53, smashing five half-centuries. In IPL 2021, one of his finest innings came against the Royals - a maiden IPL ton in just 51 balls - which explains why the Royals swooped in to have him as a part of their brand-new squad the following year. His debut stint in pink in saw him score over 300 runs, and brought to light his ability to play the anchor's role to perfection in what was a successful season for the Royals, who finished as the finalists. The southpaw made his T20I debut against Sri Lanka in early 2021 and also plies his trade for Karnataka in first-class cricket.
