Karnataka’s left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal scored a sublime maiden Test century against Sri Lanka in the first of the two Tests at Galle on Saturday (August 15).
Padikkal reached the mark in 134 balls. He came to this match as a replacement for the injured B Sai Sudharsan, and took the number three position like a duck to water. While he impressed with his ability to maintain the perfect tempo, the most important aspect from India’s perspective was his brilliant play against spin, which was becoming a major issue for the team in recent months.
With it, Padikkal became only the second Indian men’s cricketer to record an international hundred on the country’s Independence Day.
The first to do so was Padikkal’s teammate at Royal Challengers Bengaluru,
Virat Kohli, who did it in an ODI against the West Indies in 2019. In the series that followed the World Cup in England, Kohli showed his typical brilliance to anchor a tricky run chase with an unbeaten 114 at Port of Spain.
Although technically, the match began on August 14, in India’s time zone, it was in the early hours of the night on August 15 when Kohli reached the three-figure mark.
It was a rain-curtailed game, and India faced a challenging revised DLS target of 255 from 35 overs. Following early top-order dismissals (92-3), Kohli took command, delivering a masterclass in chasing.
Kohli neutralized the West Indian pacers, relying heavily on low-risk gap-finding and trademark drives. It was one of those knocks where if you don’t see the score, you won’t realise that the Indian maestro was batting at a strike rate of 115.15. Hitting 14 boundaries, Kohli scripted a decisive 120-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer, who provided high-impact acceleration with a 41-ball 65.
India won the game in 32.3 overs, and Kohli took home his 43rd ODI century. Kohli is also the only Indian men’s cricketer to score a century on both Independence Day and Republic Day. The latter — 116 runs off 213 balls against Australia at the Adelaide Oval — was, like Padikkal, his first Test century.
