Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025: In the quarterfinal match against Baroda, star batsman Devdutt Padikkal made a spectacular return to Karnataka’s batting lineup with a thrilling century. He helped the squad reach a huge goal of 282 runs with his 102 runs off 99 balls.

Karnataka’s batting collapsed as captain Mayank Agarwal fell cheaply, while Baroda captain Krunal Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first. However, Padikkal and KV Anis formed a partnership of 133 runs for the second wicket, which enabled the team to recover.

In his 102-run innings, he smashed 15 fours and two sixes and displayed outstanding shooting. It took him 96 balls and a strike rate of 103.03 to reach his century. Despite playing a supporting role, Anis smashed fours and a six to score 52 runs off 64 balls.

In List A cricket, it was his eighth century. He has played 30 innings at an impressive average of 82.37 and scored 1,977 runs, demonstrating his steady performance in domestic cricket. In addition, he had blasted nine hundreds, eleven half-centuries, and more than 20 fifty-plus scores.

He had also hammered a century against Chandigarh in December 2023; therefore, this was his second straight century in the current season. After a disappointing batting performance in the just-finished Test series against Australia, in which he scored a meager 25 runs in both innings of the series opener, he made a return.

However, he has been enjoying an incredible run in the current domestic championship, scoring 1,915 runs at an average of over 100 after 26 innings of play. He has routinely produced game-winning performances with a strike rate of 94.47.

His outstanding exploits have increased Karnataka’s prospects of winning this tournament and shown their batting depth. He is one of the up-and-coming rising stars, as he can perform well under duress.