I was very nervous, says Devdutt Padikkal on his IPL debut
Dubai: Considered a future India star, Devdutt Padikkal made an impressive IPL debut with a scintillating fifty but the young Kerala batsman says he was nervous when his place in the playing XI was confirmed to him.
Displaying a range of shots and confidence in striking the ball hard and clean, the 20-year-old scored a 42-ball 56 to help Royal Challengers Bangalore post 163 for 5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
"I was very nervous upon hearing the news of making my debut. But when I came to bat I settled down after playing a few balls," Padikkal told Chahal during an interaction after the match.
Padikkal said he has learnt a lot from RCB and India skipper Virat Kohli.
"The last one month that we practiced, I learnt a lot from Virat bhaiya. I kept asking him questions whenever I was around him. Even today, when I was playing with Finch, he showed a lot of confidence in me," he said.
Chasing 164, SRH were 121 for two before Yuzvendra Chahal triggered a collapse with his twin strike in successive balls as they were all out for 153 in 19.4 overs.
Talking about the 16th over (his last over) which changed the complexion of the game, Chahal said he looked to bowl an attacking line with a defensive field.
"It was an important over. I was thinking it could go for runs and also can be in our team's favour. My mindset was to pick wickets even though we set a defensive field. But the chat with Virat bhaiya was about bowling attacking line because only wickets can turn the match," Chahal said.
"The first ball I kept it at the leg stump, because it difficult to hit. When Vijay Shankar came, AB and Virat said let's bowl a googly, something that I was practising in the nets. We knew if it lands properly it will be difficult for a new batsman to read."
Chahal said he was nervous to play after a long time due to the COVID-19 break.
"I was a little nervous but I backed myself. The ball was wet due to dew in the field. But I have trained hard at the nets to bowl with wet balls.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
