IPL 2022: Like Punjab Kings in the past, Rajasthan Royals will have a Karnataka flavour in the squad with four players from the state in Karun Nair, KC Cariappa, Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna. But two youngsters Padikkal and Prasidh have already picked their mentors in Jos Buttler and bowling coach Lasith Malinga to learn as much as possible during the two-year stint. Follow IPL 2022 updates on Insidesport.IN.
Left-hander Devdutt Padikkal will turn out for Rajasthan Royals after partnering with Virat Kohli at RCB last season. But now, his aim is to learn as much as possible from Jos Buttler, one of the finest openers at present.
“Coming to a new franchise, I was a little bit nervous but everyone’s made me feel at home straight away, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I’m really excited to share the dressing room with Jos Buttler. He is just one of those meteoric cricketers – almost like how AB (de Villiers) was at Bangalore. He has that impact on the opposition bowling and I’m looking forward to batting with him,” Devdutt Padikkal said.
IPL 2022: Karnataka duo Prasidh Krishna & Devdutt Padikkal pick Lasith Malinga & Jos Buttler as mentors at RR
IPL 2022: Karnataka duo Prasidh Krishna & Devdutt Padikkal pick Lasith Malinga & Jos Buttler as mentors at RR
For Prasidh Krishna, the other Kannadiga, who flourished at Kolkata Knight Riders, will have arguably the best T20 pacer Lasith Malinga to work with. The Sri Lankan legend joined Rajasthan Royals as the fast bowling coach ahead of IPL 2022.
“Kumar Sangakkara and Lasith Malinga have been legends of the game, and to have the chance to work with them is a great opportunity for me personally. I’ve been having a few conversations with Malinga, and I’m really enjoying learning from him,” Prasidh Krishna said.
IPL 2022: Karnataka duo Prasidh Krishna & Devdutt Padikkal pick Lasith Malinga & Jos Buttler as mentors at RR
Lasith Malinga, wasting no time. 👏#RoyalsFamily | #TATAIPL2022 | @ninety9sl pic.twitter.com/GruPXn7AuC
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 21, 2022
Prior to joining up with the team from Rajasthan, the pair had good outings in the Ranji Trophy, helping Karnataka through to the next round of the four-day tournament. Padikkal, who amassed 260 runs at an average of 52 for his state team, spoke on his IPL preparation,
“We’ve had a good run in domestic cricket. It was good to get some runs and contribute to the team. Moving from Ranji to IPL is a challenge for sure, it’s about switching that mentality from red-ball cricket to white-ball cricket, and making those small adjustments needed to get going,” Padikkal said.
IPL 2022: Karnataka duo Prasidh Krishna & Devdutt Padikkal pick Lasith Malinga & Jos Buttler as mentors at RR
With an important season on the horizon, both players stressed on the need to be flexible in their roles and to take on challenges for the team. “I feel I can do all three roles as a fast bowler, be it in the powerplay, middle overs, or at the death. I’ve developed my skills a lot in these past four years, and I’m ready to take on any role given to me,” Prasidh expressed.
Padikkal echoed a similar mindset, “I’m always open to batting according to what the team demands of me. T20 is such a format that you need to be flexible and you need to be able to adapt to different conditions.”
IPL 2022: Karnataka duo Prasidh Krishna & Devdutt Padikkal pick Lasith Malinga & Jos Buttler as mentors at RR
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Retained: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Auction Picks: Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed Mccoy, Arunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, Daryl Mitchell, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Neesham
Follow IPL 2022 updates on Insidesport.in
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