Padikkal has a hundred in each Test of this series, and Pant retired hurt on 3 after a blow to the wrist
India closed the first day in Colombo on 300 for 5. Devdutt Padikkal made 117, his second Test century in successive matches, and Rishabh Pant left the field after 15 balls.
Aug 23, 2026
Devdutt Padikkal had never scored a Test hundred before this month. He has two now, in successive Tests, and the second one carried India to 300 for 5 at stumps on the first day in Colombo. It was not a comfortable day even so. India lost two wickets in the last ten overs, and Rishabh Pant did not finish his innings.
Two Tests, two hundreds
Padikkal made 117 from 193 balls at the Sinhalese Sports Club, twelve fours and nothing else. He reached fifty off 90 balls and a hundred off 168, which tells you the shape of it. His 167 at Galle took 230 balls and included 15 fours and a six. This one was slower, scored at just over 60 to the hundred balls, and built on leaving deliveries alone and waiting for something short.
He was eventually bowled by Keshara Nuwantha for 117, having put on 120 with Shubman Gill for the third wicket and 74 with Ravindra Jadeja for the fourth. His two Test hundreds now sit back to back, and he was player of the match in Galle, where he also made 44 in the second innings. India lead the series 1-0.
Gill made 50 from 108 balls before edging Asitha Fernando to Niroshan Dickwella. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 45 came off 53 with nine fours, which was the fastest anyone scored all day, and Fernando bowled him too. KL Rahul got 18.
Pant lasted fifteen balls
Pant came in when Gill went at 186 and was still on nought at tea. Lahiru Kumara returned for the 58th over, went round the wicket and banged the first ball in short and into the body. Pant was early on the pull, and the ball hit him on the left wrist, just below the forearm.
He was down for a while. India’s physio Kamlesh Jain came out with an ice pack, play stopped for some time, and Pant walked off on 3 from 15 balls with the score 207 for 3. Team doctor Charles Minz looked at the wrist again in the dugout. India had not said anything about the extent of it by the close, and whether he bats again in this innings is the first thing worth watching on Monday morning. A wicketkeeper with a damaged wrist is a problem that does not stay confined to the batting.
Fernando’s three, and a late wobble
Asitha Fernando was the pick of Sri Lanka’s attack by a distance: 16 overs, five maidens, 46 runs, three wickets. Kumara took one for 38 from 13. The two spinners got through 49 overs between them for one wicket, Nuwantha’s, at a cost of 183 runs. Prabath Jayasuriya’s 27 overs went for 90 without reward.
Sri Lanka’s best passage came last. Padikkal was bowled in the 77th over with the total on 281, the new ball came at 80.1, and Jadeja went for 43 with the score on 296. Two wickets in the final ten overs was a respectable way to finish a day you spent mostly chasing leather.
Dhruv Jurel is 7 not out and Saransh Jain 4 not out. Jain is playing his first Test, picked ahead of Kuldeep Yadav, who had missed a net session in Colombo on Friday. Kamil Mishara made his debut for Sri Lanka in the same match and bowled four overs of it.