Vijay Hazare Trophy: Devdutt Padikkal, an elegant left-hand top-order batter, maintained his extraordinary run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, etching his name into the record books as Karnataka clashed with Rajasthan in Elite Group A's encounter at Ahmedabad's Gujarat College Ground on Tuesday.

With another fluent innings on Tuesday, Padikkal became the first batter to score 600 or more runs in three different Vijay Hazare Trophy seasons.

Padikkal broke into the domestic circuit in the 2019–20 season, accumulating 609 runs from 11 matches, completing as the leading run-scorer that season.

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He took his match intensity to new heights in the 2020-21 season, assembling an astonishing 737 runs from just seven innings, at an eye-popping average of 147.40.

In the 2025–26 Vijay Hazare Trophy season, he followed the same script, topping the chart of highest run-scorers by crossing the 600-run mark. His series of commanding performances in the ongoing event includes centuries with best scores of 147, 124 and 113 so far in the season.

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Padikkal played a pivotal role against Rajasthan, slamming a 91-run knock off 82 balls, studded with 12 fours and two sixes, to anchor Karnataka's innings.

This masterful effort helped develop a dominant 184-run opening partnership with captain Mayank Agarwal. A veteran of two Tests and two T20Is, Padikkal will look to take this form into Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) service when the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 commences.