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Devdutt Padikkal struck a career-best 167 before being stumped off Jayasuriya as India posted 460/9 at stumps on a rain-curtailed Day 2 of the first Test in Galle. KL Rahul returned to add 82, Dhruv Jurel hit a brisk 51 and Manav Suthar contributed 24. Jayasuriya finished with 4/109 and Nuwantha with 3/175 on his debut. Only Kuldeep (12*) and Prasidh (1*) remain for India on Day 3.
Galle, Sri Lanka: Rain had threatened to rob this Test of its momentum, and for much of the morning it succeeded. The covers stayed on through the entire first session and well into the afternoon before the skies relented sufficiently for play to begin at 2:35pm local time. When it did, India were intent on making every delivery count — and they did, with Padikkal’s masterclass at the centre of everything.
Padikkal’s Standing Ovation
Resuming on an unbeaten 131 overnight, Padikkal picked up exactly where he had left off. The Karnataka left-hander moved through the 140s and 150s with the assurance of a batter who had long since conquered the surface and the occasion. He flicked Asitha Fernando over mid-on for four to bring up 150 — a landmark he had never previously reached in Test cricket — and kept going.
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Sri Lanka’s spinners found their rhythm and kept the pressure on in the afternoon session, and eventually Jayasuriya extracted the breakthrough. Padikkal ventured down the track too early and was beaten by a quick, flat delivery outside off, allowing Dickwella to whip off the bails instantly. The left-hander walked off to a standing ovation, his 167 off 230 balls the finest innings of his Test career — and one that has firmly announced his return to the international stage.
Pant’s Cameo, Then Rahul Returns
When play resumed, Rishabh Pant and Padikkal initially played with caution against a tighter Sri Lanka attack operating with the second new ball. The breakthrough arrived as soon as the second new ball was taken — Pant fell for 39 trying to launch debutant Keshara Nuwantha, holing out to mid-off. It was vintage Pant: spectacular in intent, a touch undone by his own ambition.
The return of KL Rahul to the crease — having retired hurt the previous evening with forearm cramp — provided further ballast. Rahul, who had gone off at 77, came back and added five more valuable runs before being undone by sharp turn and bounce from Keshara Nuwantha, edging to short leg for 82. His combined contribution across the two days was exactly what India’s middle order needed.
Ravindra Jadeja, arriving next, could not make a mark on the occasion — he was trapped lbw by Nuwantha for 13, the debutant off-spinner claiming his third wicket of the innings and underlining why, despite his expensive figures, he remains a genuine threat on this turning Galle surface.
Jurel Shines, Dhananjaya Dazzles
With the lower order arriving, India needed someone to dig in. Dhruv Jurel obliged with a brisk and composed 51 off 68 balls — four fours and a six — that demonstrated his growing maturity and attacking instincts at Test level. He shared a 55-run stand with Manav Suthar, who chipped in usefully with 24 before being lured down the track by Jayasuriya and caught at long-on.
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Jurel’s dismissal was as spectacular as it was unfortunate. Jayasuriya got one to drift into Jurel, who closed the bat face a touch too early and sent a leading edge towards slip. Dhananjaya de Silva threw himself full-length to his right and plucked it one-handed out of thin air — a stunning captain’s catch to end a composed innings.
Mohammed Siraj contributed a cameo of 11 before miscuing a slower ball from Fernando to mid-off, and then Kuldeep and Prasidh saw out the final 17 balls of the day to bring stumps with India at 460/9.
Sri Lanka’s Bowling Reckoning
For Sri Lanka, the day offered both encouragement and concern. Prabath Jayasuriya took 4-109, while debutant off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha took 3-175 — the figures alone tell a story of a bowler who was both penetrative and expensive, as India’s lower order took him on. Nuwantha’s debut will be remembered for the wickets, though his economy — conceding 175 runs across his overs — is a number that demands improvement at this level.
The surface, meanwhile, continues to deteriorate. India added 172 runs across just over three hours of afternoon play, which says as much about the quality of India’s batting as the conditions — but by days four and five, this pitch will be a different animal entirely. With a lead already approaching 460, India are in a position to set a total that will put the outcome beyond doubt if their bowlers perform.
What Day 3 Holds
India will resume on Monday morning with Kuldeep and Prasidh at the crease. The tail is unlikely to add significantly — but even with 460 on the board, India are firmly in control of a match they have dominated from the moment Shubman Gill won the toss. Sri Lanka will need to bat with a discipline and application they have not yet shown in this series to avoid a heavy defeat.
The question for Dhananjaya de Silva’s side is not whether India will declare — it is when, and how much time Sri Lanka will have to survive on a pitch that is already turning and will only get worse.
Score: India 460/9 (116 overs) — Devdutt Padikkal 167 (230), KL Rahul 82, Dhruv Jurel 51 (68), Rishabh Pant 39, Kuldeep Yadav 12* (batting), Prasidh Krishna 1* (batting)
Bowling: Prabath Jayasuriya 4/109; Keshara Nuwantha 3/175; Asitha Fernando 1 wicket
