Devdutt Padikkal continued his stellar form from IPL 2025 with yet another blistering innings on Thursday. Chasing down a hefty target for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, he opened alongside Virat Kohli to give a strong start to the side. It was consecutive fifty for him against the Royals, the first coming much earlier in the season in Jaipur. The Rajasthan Royals bring the best out of Padikkal. The left-hander took full advantage of the batting-friendly conditions at Bengaluru. He hammered a fifty off just 26 balls, with four fours and three sixes, and established the tone along with Kohli. 2⃣ glorious shots on offer 🙌2⃣ maximum results 👌Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal pushing #RCB to a strong total 👏Updates ▶ https://t.co/mtgySHgAjc #TATAIPL | #RCBvRR | @imVkohli | @devdpd07 pic.twitter.com/K9Nrh5o1yS — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 24, 2025 Padikkal was particularly aggressive against Tushar Deshpande, though he played with more caution against Wanindu Hasaranga and Jofra Archer. This was the second fifty of the season for Padikkal, both against the Royals. Clearly, the Royals are his favorite side. Now he has two fifties and one century against them for 311 runs, making for an incredible average of 77.75. His overall career average in the IPL, however, is just 26.30. This season has been a turnaround season for Padikkal. After some average outings at the Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants; scoring only 38 in seven innings last season. He made a strong comeback in RCB. His aggressive approach is paying big dividends. Also Read | Who are the batters to have been retired out in the history of IPL? Check full list here Currently, he is scoring an impressive 157.53, a significant rise from 122.43 in his earlier career. Padikkal has been more focused on hitting boundaries and it shows. His resettlement into form, along with being a left-hander, is critical in balancing RCB's hollowed right-sided batting line-up.