Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Devdutt Padikkal says opening alongside Virat Kohli in his debut IPL season helped him understand the art of constructing an innings, a lesson that continues to shape his approach in T20 cricket.

Padikkal, who burst onto the scene with RCB in the 2020 IPL, said watching Kohli operate from close quarters gave him invaluable insight early in his career.

"When I made my IPL debut with RCB in the 2020 season, I felt ready. I had a solid run of scores in domestic cricket behind me," Padikkal said. "And batting with Virat Kohli was a huge help. At that age, watching him build an innings gave me so much clarity and understanding of how to construct a knock. That made a big difference in my growth,"